Hikari's Tale
by Titanium Flower
Summary: What if, instead of Nina, a young girl called Hikari swallowed the Crystal Pearl? Her tale begins as two boys mysteriously fall from the sky, with a promise of protection and stories of magic.
1. The Meeting, Part 1

Even just that morning, if someone were to tell me that I would discover magic that day, I would probably be worried about their mental health. To most, it seems like an insane idea, something that couldn't quite happen to _them._ But magic doesn't need to explain itself to anyone. It has nothing to prove and nothing to be.

And it's what turned my life upside down.

* * *

The sky was a bright, pleasant periwinkle that soothed the mind, clouds wandered aimlessly like lost sheep, looking just as soft to touch. Sunlight streamed down, the warm, mellow golden rays illuminating everything it graced with a heavenly glow and, coupled with a cooling breeze that carried the sweet, crips scent from the flower pots artistically positioned around, it was utterly perfect.

Too bad this peace wouldn't last.

"I'm telling you, he is such a sweetheart. I don't think I've ever met a guy like him before."

I smiled past the thorns in my heart, the action weak and strained at the edges.

This wasn't the first time Ayumi had uttered those words, nor, I believe, it would be the last. I hoped this time it would be different, but deep down, I already had a sinking suspicion that it was doomed from the start and I just wished she wouldn't shatter when it ended. Granted, she had a right to be devastated, but the confusing thing was how quickly she repeated the cycle, when it only caused her more heartbreak. For a long while I've wondered why she'd willingly destroy herself like this. But... Maybe all she's ever wanted to prove was that she was worthy of being loved.

"Hikari? You're being awfully quiet, even for you," Kei, the eldest girl forming our little trio observed me with an expression of mild concern, absently brushing a stray petal from her shoulder. "Is anything bothering you?"

In the distance, a sweet, melodic birdsong rose from the trees.

Her words, soft and inviting, enticed a sheepish smile from me as I poked at my strawberry shortcake. My choice had thoroughly amused Auymi, both for the similarity to my height- I was, quite unfortunately, _very_ short- and the fact that the cashier wrongly assumed I was _elementary-aged,_ and, worst of all, the younger sister of the aforementioned girl, who kindly helped me order it. I was just _thrilled_ about that.

"No, I'm fine, Kei," Though my awkward fidgeting was doing a rather splendid job of contradicting that statement. "Nothing's bothering me at all. I just zoned out for a second there." Shooting Ayumi and apologetic smile, I lowered my eyes. "Sorry, Ayumi. I didn't mean to be rude. I did hear most of it, though. You were talking about Ken, weren't you? He does sound very nice."

Which was a complete and utter lie, but Ayumi seemed to fall for it hook, line and sinker.

"You're so adorable!" The girl in question exclaimed, quiet randomly, releasing a high-pitched squeal lethal enough to deafen most dogs, and hugged me a little too tightly around the neck. I was debating the appropriate size for my tombstone when Kei, ever my guardian angel, noticed my discomfort and waded in. Thankfully, she saved me from a premature death, firmly prying the excitable girl away. "You should really hear yourself sometimes. You're so soft and quiet, you sound just like a little mouse!" I stared pointedly at the girl, wondering if she ever actually stopped to breathe at all, while the girl gushed incessantly.

Quite suddenly, she stopped, blinked and fixed me with wide eyes abuzz with energy as I took another bite of heaven. "Say, Hikari. What _is_ your type?"

I almost choked on the cake. " _My type?"_

Ayumi nodded, beaming, looking far too proud of herself to possibly be deemed sane.

Evidently, I'd missed a memo somewhere. It seemed like this was _Make Hikari Feel Uncomfortable Day,_ and I was not informed about it.

Boys were not one of my favourite topics. I didn't like to gossip in general, and even less about the opposite sex. In my eyes, relationships were not something that I needed to bother myself with yet. Unfortunately, in my little ground of friends, I was privy to exactly that far more than I would have preferred. Ayumi absolutely loved to talk about boys. She could go on for hours about who she found attractive and who looked cute with who, it drove me insane sometimes, when all I'd ever experienced were outdated, platonic displays of affection from Hiro.

Pouting, I delicately twirled my fork between my fingers. "Personality is what counts, right? So, someone sweet and funny would be nice. And... Maybe someone confident? That would bring me out of my shell... I guess I'd like someone who would support and trust me as much as I would them, and I'd hope that they'd care enough to protect me. Not just from situations or people that I'm uncomfortable with, but little things, like the cold? I... I always like wearing boy's jumpers, they're always so much bigger and warmer than mine."

Ayumi nodded encouragingly. "Looks like you've got it all figured out. We gotta go find this guy of yours, Hikari!"

A small, unexpected _clink_ caught my attention. An object had collided with my plate. I hoped to the Gods that it was my spoon, for I would be screaming and throwing up my hands in what was quite possibly a ritual dance to summon Satan if I discovered an insect blinking bug-eyed at me. I located the source immediately. To my confusion, the mysterious objects were neither of those two things (thankfully sparing the eardrums pf everyone in the vicinity). No, it was a small, flamboyantly pink little ball, which I scooped up and displayed to my friends.

"I didn't know this cake came with hard candy."

Ayumi cocked her head to the side, frowned, then shrugged helplessly. "Neither did I. Maybe it's a new bonus? I heard they've got competition for a different store, so they could be trying to attract new customers. Try it. See if it's any good." I nodded, and silently swirled it around in my mouth. Ayumi's expectant orbs followed my every movement. "How is it?"

"Weird... It kinda tastes funny... and it's really hard to chew. Are you sure this is candy?"

"It sounds disgusting." Kei wrinkled her nose. "Spit it out."

I didn't, though. In fact, I involuntarily swallowed the whole thing, almost triggering my gag reflex, _b_ _ecause there were_ _people falling from the sky._

In a heartbeat, I'd tackled my friends to the ground, throwing my body hap-haphazardly over theirs to shield them as best as I could. When no impact arrived, I cautiously lifted my head, and one heart-stopping second later, I realised the the weight on my trusty locket was no longer present around my neck. "Stay down." I instructed, and, ignoring my friend's urgent whispers, I crawled over on my hands and knees, desperately hoping I wasn't placing myself in mortal danger as I collected the pendant and replaced it to its usual position, promptly falling back into a pair of legs that definitely hadn't been present before.

Frightened, my eyes snapped up, clocking the strange ground as they hurtled back towards me. "What the hell is going on?" I had to be hallucinating. That was the only logical explanation, right?

"Don't worry," The lanky legs swiftly moved to stand before me in a bored but unwavering stance. "We're on your side."

"On my side?" I echoed, struggling to slow my racing heart. Just a few paces away, Ayumi was clinging tightly to the usually emotionless Kei. Both girls looked appropriately terrified.

"That's right." He confirmed, almost seeming unbearably cocky as he tipped his head up and shot me a confident smile. And, _damn,_ did he look nonchalant when a car also dropped out of the sky, for no apparent reason other than to strengthen the twisting pit in my stomach. I, as one can expect, obviously wasn't comfortable with having objects randomly appear from thin air, and barely managed to stifle my shriek. Ayumi, on the other hand, displayed fair less restraint. Her scream appeared to deafen Kei, and was the perfect reward for the brunette girl's frantic attempts at quelling Ayumi's distress.

Nails pressing firm indents into the palms of my hands, I took a steadying breath. "Kei, listen to me! You and Ayumi need to get home. Go now! Run as fast as you can and don't stop for anything. I'll catch up, I promise."

Kei gnawed on her lower lip, critically assessed Ayumi, who looked set to burst into an uncontrollable pool of tears, and then, very reluctantly, nodded. She pulled Ayumi up and the girls went skittering away, barely pausing long enough to pull the Ayumi to her feet when she tripped over a crack in the pavement. My focus was captured by the appearance of a second boy, this one displaying a neat brunette head of hair compared to the first's unruly electric blue, as he acrobatically flipped out of the car and landed with cat-like grace.

"Ready?" The brunette asked.

"Of course. I'm feeling so pumped. Let's get this thing started!" The blunette held the same edging note of arrogance, but when coupled with the unmistakably excited gleam in his cerulean orbs, and the slight softening of his defined features when he faced me, it was almost endearing. "Don't you worry. We're not going to let you get injured. Just stay back and we'll protect you. Okay?"

Wordlessly, I nodded, too weirded out to comprehend much, let alone form coherent sentences. "Shield Magic: Crystal Barrier!"

Spellbound, I blinked up at the opaque barrier with an utterly enchanting expression of total stupidity. This barrier, seemingly erected out of thin air, actually did a rather good job of keeping those strange people from getting too close as they hurtled past. Neither boy looked as worried as they should have been. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown, and yet they seemed cool and collected and utterly calm. All concepts which eluded me at this current point in time.

"Are you okay?" _Define okay. I happen to still be breathing, is that adequate?_ "It looks like we scared them off. I don't think they'll be coming back." The taller boy outstretched his hand towards me, tenderly helping me to my feet, even going as far as to catch my upper arm and hold me steady when I stumbled on my shaking legs.

"Hey, are you sure it fell in this area? What is they find it before we do?"

"That's impossible, zura. We from the seahorse tribe are great admirers of the pearl, and I know exactly where to find it, even without that raggedy looking finder. So, you can count of me, guys!"

A _talking,_ _flying **seahorse.**_

As if this day couldn't get any crazier.

The brunette raised a sceptical eyebrow. "You're positive?"

"If you don't believe me, then that's fine, zura," It seemed hurt on a spiritual level. "But even Zero's finder keeps saying it's somewhere around here."

 _Zero...?_ My gaze snapped to the shorter of the two, the boy with shockingly blue hair and an ever present smirk. _So, that's his name?_ "That's weird... It says the Pearl's right in front of us." Both boys frowned, and glanced up, staring directly at me with identical expressions of confusion. "No... That can't be right. Maybe it's broken?"

The brunette shrugged, before being forcefully pushed forward a couple of paces by Zero, who whistled innocently under the taller boy's sharp glare. Awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck, he summoned a fleeting smile. "Excuse me... You haven't happened to have seen a Crystal Pearl around here, have you? It's a pink, round pearl and it's about this big..." The brunette demonstrated by holding his thumb and forefinger apart at what he deemed to be the correct size. "Does it sound familiar at all?"

I visibly recoiled, fists my hands in my shirt. "Um... That kinda sounds like the hard candy that came with my cake." He stared, face blank, emotionless, possibly already aware of what I'd follow that statement up with. "And... I, um... I may have... accidentally... s-swallowed that candy..."

"What," Zero said, flatly. "Did you just say?" Frightened by the fury in his eyes, I tried to edge back. He'd seized the front of my shirt before I could get far, his face inches from mine, invading my personal space. "You _stupid_ girl! Do you have _any_ idea what you've done? Spit it out right now. You have to give it back. Throw it up if you have to. Just give it back!"

"Knock it off, Zero!" The brunette exclaimed, forcefully prying the boy away from me. "You're making it worse!"

"But-" Zero protested, wildly jabbing a finger in my direction, eyes abuzz with wild energy. "She's got the Pearl, Ichii. What are we supposed to do now?"

"There's no helping it if she's swallowed it. We can't do anything about this right now. If we make a riot here, we'll be at a complete disadvantage. Try to relax, alright? If the others come here, then-"

Ichii was swiftly interrupted by several things. My terrified scream being one of them. And the appearance of a giant owl nonchalantly hovering a few feet above the ground as if it were completely normal for over-sized animals to appear in fairly busy town centres, was another. It would be a monumental understatement to call this animal just _big._ It was at least two stories high, maybe pushing three, which was more than tall enough for me to wonder what kind of steroid-infused mice it was jacked up on. Seriously, that thing was _unnatural._ And that's certainly saying something, since this day has been full of insanity.

"What the hell are they thinking, riding around on that?" Zero hissed, fists clenching into tight balls.

"Hey, she's not safe here," Zura said, worriedly, curling around my neck.

Ichii whispered, in a low voice, delicately spinning the car keys around a slender finger. "We don't have any choice, we have to leave and now. To the car, quickly."

One of the figures sitting atop the owl leaned forward, squinting at us. "Hey, where are you two going? And why are you hanging around with that pathetic human?" _I take offence to being called pathetic by a guy wearing a hat as ridiculous as that._ "Have you found any leads on the Crystal Pearl?"

"As if we'd tell you." Zero said, rolling his eyes, seizing me around the waist, and before I could fully comprehend the motion, we were in the backseat. Or, more accurately, Zero- ever the gentleman- _threw_ me into the backseat and clambered in after me. I was grateful for Zura instantly coming to my defence, harshly reprimanding the bluenette, who looked suitably apologetic. Ichii offered the girl and boy a hurried goodbye, before he slammed his foot down, jolting the car into motion. Zero's strong, steady arm was the only thing that allowed me to stay grounded as I fell hard back into the plush cushion. While my wish of escape had been granted, I wasn't exactly sure how I felt about the two boys gatecrashing my private plans.

"They're tailing us, Ichii. Loose 'em!"

"Like I'm not trying!" The brunette yelled back, making a sharp turn into the next street that tossed me and Zero around like rag dolls and almost caused several collisions. At least Zero was chivalrous enough to at least _attempt_ to use his body to shield me from the brunt of the force, which was pretty sweet of him, considering his previous attitude towards me.

"Ichii! That hurt!" The little seahorse whined, settling more firmly on my shoulder.

"Damn, sorry! Are you guys okay?"

"Are you trying to _kill us?_ "

"I'll take that as a no. Hold on!" Zero flew at me, keeping my body secured tightly against his, his free hand holding onto the seat in front for dear life, throwing curses at the brunette as he floored the accelerator, wildly spinning the wheel and having the car skid to the right, coasting around a sharp turn and barely managing to avoid crashing into at least sixteen different cars. "I really will kill you if you don't _shut up!_ _"_ Ichii exclaimed, throwing a poisonous glare at the brunette, while Zura giggled quietly and reassured me that this kind of exchange was normal. "I'm trying to drive, I don't need screaming in my ear!"

"Hey!" The blonde haired boy sounded indignant. "I'm talking to you guys. Get back here!"

"We're busy, Forte!" Ichii replied, braking so suddenly that me and Zero almost tumbled out of the car. Despite inflicting a nasty bump on Zero's head, the action did do some good, practically flooring the owl. "There, that should do it." He muttered, steering the car away as quickly as possible. Zero took this pause in the chase to secure the both of us with a seat belt- despite my hurried protests that I was capable of doing it myself.

"Uh-Oh..." Zura intoned, settling down on Ichii's head. "They're coming back, Ichii."

"You're kidding!" He groaned, pressing down on the accelerator.

"Nope." The seahorse said, shaking his little head sadly. "You better drive a lot faster if you want to shake them. They're gaining on us."

The owl swooped back, almost causing every car in the vicinity to crash from the mere sight of it, couple with a furious glare from the blond and an alarmingly serene expression from the girl. "Why are you running? Just answer me already!"

"How about no?" Zero offered, childishly poking his tongue out at them. I shrunk against his side, terribly anxious, comforted by Zura, who left Ichii in favour of happily tucking himself up on my lap, tenderly nuzzling his little head against my hand in order to reassure me. Smiling gratefully, I tickled him under the chin. "Give up already!"

The impromptu chase was ended when the three took a wrong turn. Ichii, with a series of sharp, erratic turns, lost us in a sea of buildings and cars before they could locate us again.

* * *

"This looks like a good spot." Ichii mumbled, carefully bringing the car to a sedate halt. "You can get out now," He added, over his shoulder, as he stretched his aching arms. "We should be safe here."

"Jeez, they're so annoying." Zero sighed, wearily, removing his arm from around my waist, allowing me to back up against the door with the attitude of a spooked deer. eyeing both boys with equal wariness. "Bet they've caused a massive riot in town." Ichii gave his own heavy sigh and nodded in agreement. Both boys silently fumed for a moment.

"What's going on?" I asked, voice shaking. Zura nudged his head against me, a reassurance that I desperately needed. "Who were those people? Why were the chasing us? And... who are _you_?"

"I guess we don't have much of a choice," Ichii chuckled softly, the corners of his eyes crinkling with amusement as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. His peaceful expression set my mind somewhat at ease. "This is going to sound crazy, but hear me out, okay?" I nodded, uncertainly, a pit of dread curling in my stomach. "Those two were San and Forte, they're two of the many examinees that are after the Crystal Pearl inside your body. You see, it's the pivotal part of this massive Sorcerer exam that we're taking, me and Zero included. In pairs, we're supposed to find this Pearl and keep it in our possession until Christmas- by any means possible. The team that wins are able to become Professional Sorcerers, so it's a pretty big deal."

I blinked. Once, very slowly, and slammed my head into the back of Ichii's seat. For some reason, I expected Zero to act as though there was absolutely nothing wrong with grievous bodily harm being done to oneself at whatever ungodly hour of the morning this was. Instead, he actually looked suitably worried, and gently but insistently lowered me back against the plush cushions.

"Giving yourself brain damage won't help." He admonished, voice far more gentle than I had experienced so far.

"I'm a complete idiot." I mumbled against my hands. "I... I swallowed this Pearl? And... it's for a... Sorcerer exam?"

"You believe us?" Ichii asked, evidently a little surprised.

"This is way too weird for me to make up." I wanted to hit my head again, but Zero was being all hover-y and concerned, so I couldn't. "This... Pearl. You can get it out... Can't you? You've got magic. I saw you use it. So... it should be easy! You can remove it from my body, right? You can help me?" Feeling small and scared and terribly, terribly vulnerable, I almost collapsed into tears. "You... You will help me... Won't you?"

"Of course we will," Ichii assured, his voice low, soothing, filled with so much warmth that it almost instantly quelled my rising panic. He caught my hands, which had be twisting anxiously in his big, soft ones and gave them a gentle squeeze. Zura mumbled reassurances in my ear, having slunk up to my shoulder to do his best to calm me. "I'll put a call into Headquarters and get this whole thing sorted out. You don't need to worry." Frankly, I had more than enough reason to worry. While they would start preparing the medicine to remove the Pearl immediately, it wouldn't be complete until Christmas.

"What... am I supposed to do now?"

Zero, being positioned in such a way that he could easily glimpse my expression, must have seen the tears welling in my eyes. What I didn't anticipate was him lightly hitting my upside the head. "Don't cry, for one thing," Ichii must have shot him a sharp look, for his demeanour instantly softened. "It doesn't suit you at all. Cheer up."

"B-But," I sniffled, swiping at my cheeks. "There are lots of other people looking for the Pearl, aren't there?"

"Of course there are. And just like us, they're determined to ace this exam."

"So how can I relax!?" I wailed, dread consuming me. "They're going to come after me!"

"Let them," Zero replied, with a nonchalant shrug. "They won't get very far."

"That's right," Ichii agreed, backed up with Zura, who was frantically nodding his head. "Because we're going to protect you. Until that medicine is ready, we will keep diligent watch over you and make sure that you remain safe. You shouldn't have been caught up in our affairs, so we'll make sure no harm comes to you because of it. Once the Crystal Pearl is extracted, the examinees won't have a reason to bother you any more, you'll be safe after that point."

"You'll... Protect me?" I echoed, quietly. "But... I can't let you do that... It's all my fault that this happened... You're not obligated to help me in any way, so you can leave if you want to. I wouldn't blame you at all..."

Zero hit me again, a little firmer this time. Ichii didn't even try to stop him, even though it was well within his power to. It seems as though he also thought I needed some sense knocked into me. "Don't be an idiot. If we thought this was a waste of time, would we still be here?" I floundered, speechless, so Zero took the liberty of answering for me. "No. We wouldn't. I would've dragged his responsible ass all the way back home. But I didn't, did I? We're still here, right in front of you. And you're going to be seeing a whole lot of us over these next six months, so you best get used to it now. Got it?"

"U-Uh... Yeah. Got it."

"What's your name?" Ichii asked, softly.

"Hi-Hikari..."

"Hikari?" He repeated. I nodded shyly. "Pretty. It means 'light', doesn't it? It definitely suits you. My name is Ichii, and you can call him Zero." I hesitantly gazed over at the bluenette, who grinned cheekily and snapped me a quick salute. "He's a bit of a stubborn idiot that enjoys hitting people, but I swear he's a lot kinder than he seems." Ichii continued, swiftly ignoring Zero's spluttered protests, easily blocking a half-hearted punch thrown his way. "Last but not least, this is Zura. Technically all of the examinees could bring a familiar to help, but it doesn't look like many did. We're definitely going to ace the test thanks to this little guy."

Zura waved cheerfully, his little tail curling in excitement. Smiling a little brighter, I returned the gesture.

"It's settled then!" Zero announced, with a long yawn. "We'll protect her and the Pearl until the test is officially over.

"Aha, I knew it!"

* * *

 **A/N:** **I don't own Save me! Lollipop, all rights go to it's owners and producers etc. My cover image is a black and white picture of Hikari that I drew.**

 **So, this story is basically one where my OC (Hikari) is in Nina's place and living the life she did and with my own little touches here and there. So that concludes my first chapter, I hope it was good and everyone enjoyed it.** **It would really help me a lot if I could get some feedback on this, to know how I can and improve or what people like is really helpful! xD**


	2. The Meeting, Part 2

At that moment, I began debating the colour of my coffin.

Somewhere deep down knew that running was pointless. With that massive owl and a hawk like gaze fixed directly on me, hopping aboard the Nope Train to Screwthatville was currently not an option- unless I wanted to be mauled to death by those razor sharp talons. Forte was standing atop the ever faithful owl, arms crossed, a look of smug triumph dancing across his features, accompanied, as ever, by San. "So, that's why you ran off with her earlier."

"It makes perfect sense," San agreed, in a cute little voice, her head cocked thoughtfully to the side as she studied us. She smiled, just as sweet as ever, but I wasn't fooled for a second. Outwardly, she seemed nothing more than a small, innocent little cinnamon roll. But there was something very subtle about her demeanour that sent icy shivers racing down my spine and, no matter how much of a muggle I was right now, I was inclined to listen to it. "I thought you were acting strange earlier. But I never would have guessed the Crystal Pearl was inside of her!"

"Hand her over." Forte ordered, holding his hand out expectantly.

Zero hitched an eyebrow up, and, much to my utter confusion, he appeared to be more than a little amused. "You've gotta be kidding me."

The blond boy had his nose in the air and sniffed disdainfully. "Either you do it willingly, or we take her by force. It's your choice."

"Yeah," Zero's warm, strong hand gripped my wrist, tenderly pulling me back into his tight embrace. I squeaked, surprised, but loosened almost immediately once I registered what exactly he was doing. "I'd like to see you try." A wan smile ghosted my lips. Zero and Ichii, somehow they seemed to emit a bright, comforting aura that reassured my very soul. San and Forte, however, were a completely different story. They made my stomach curl with unease, while it wasn't as though their mere presence emanated nothing but pure malice, there was something that I inherently didn't trust about either of them.

"You shouldn't act so confident, Zero."

"What ever helps you sleep at night." the bluenette tipped his head with incessant pride, his fingers flexing slightly around my upper arms at Forte's irritated twitching. It looked as though the blond boy was intent on strangling poor Zero. "She's ours. There's no way you're getting your hands on this girl. You may as well just give up now, Forte."

"I wonder about that. San, want to have the honour?"

The raven haired girl bounced forward excitedly. "It's San's turn now!" She exclaimed, twirling her golden staff with incredible enthusiasm. She looked akin to a child on Christmas, which was more than a little disturbing considering she was about to _attack us._ "Here I go. Step Cat!"

Zero looked unimpressed, to say the least. Bold and brash and too cocky to know better, he made the mistake of taunting them with a smug smirk. "Is that it? I'll destroy this easily with my Destruction Ma _gic_ -" -A strangled little yell sounded as Ichii seized his collar and dragged Zero into the backseat of the car, the bluenette awkwardly falling across the backseat. Taking no time to asses his friend's condition, Ichii floored the accelerator and Zero, limbs splayed haphazardly, only managed to avoid smacking headfirst into the seat in front due to my swift intervention. Recovering, Zero pouted in a way reminiscent to a five-year-old being denied cookies. "Remind me exactly _why_ we're running away, again!"

As if indulging a three-year-old, Ichii said; "Oh, I don't know. How about the fact that whenever you use your magic you always go crazy and destroy everything?"

Zero considered this for a long moment, as he carefully pushed himself up from my lap and into an appropriate sitting position, affectionately chipping Zura under his chin when the little seahorse flew over to sit happily on his shoulder. "What if I go easy on him?"

In the rear view mirror, I spotted Ichii rolling his eyes with enough force to cause permanent damage, making Zura giggle. He didn't even bother to merit the bluenette with a response, instead using the reflection to meet my worried gaze and shoot me a reassuring smile. "How we looking, Hikari? Out of the danger zone?"

A quick glance behind confirmed that we were in fact not safe. _At all._ "It's catching up to us!" I cried, snapping my head back with enough speed to induce whiplash. "You better step on it, Ichii!" The brunette obliged, practically flattening the pedal against the floor. The engine gave a small splutter of protest. In perfect synchronisation, both Zero and Ichii's eyes widened as they shared a long glance.

"That... didn't sound good." Zura intoned, sinking a little closer to Zero- who immediately patted his head in comfort.

"Zero, you've gotta get her out of here."

The bluenette levelled Ichii with a serious look. "What about you?"

Ichii shrugged, hopelessly. "I'm not the one they're after, am I? I doubt that they'll bother spending too much time on me, considering the Crystal Pearl is what they really want. I'll distract them long enough for you two to escape. And even if they do go for me, unlike you, I can use my magic to protect myself." Zero processed his words for a long moment, before nodding firmly. "Good. I'll catch up to you real soon. Look after her, Zero."

"I will." He promised, with genuine honesty.

They traded an awkward, poor excuse for a high five, considering Ichii was almost forced to dislocate his arm to do it in the first place.

"Hold on tight." Zero instructed. I didn't hesitate to fling my arms around his neck. One arm held me securely up against him, the other was firmly locked around Zura's tail. The little seahorse, proud to finally be needed, puffed up like a balloon and lifted us into the air. It really wasn't what I had expected. Sure, magic was strange and new to me, but after growing up in the era of Harry Potter, I was expecting some Apparition-type-thing to happen. I was sorely disappointed.

As we swayed precariously, my eyes focused unwaveringly on the rapidly shrinking ground.

My voice, already faint and unassuming, could not quite make itself loud enough to be heard over the roaring of blood in my ears. Without even meaning to, my nails began to sink deep into Zero shoulders, marking his fair complexion with deep, ugly indents, and the boy was too busy with keeping us from falling to our deaths to really protest much.

He must have noticed that I was trembling. After all, every part of my body was shaking uncontrollably, there was no way he could miss it. So, he did the best that he could to comfort me, like giving me a tender squeeze, and whispering so quietly that only we could hear, "It's alright now, Hikari. I know Ichii looks like you could snap him like a twig, but trust me, he's strong. He's kicked my ass enough times for me to know that. Small fry like San and Forte won't even faze him, so don't worry. We're going to protect you, I promise."

He became immensely concerned when his admittedly poor choice of comfort words hadn't seemed to work at all.

"Hey," He said, voice firm but urgent. "Hikari, is something wrong?"

I latched onto him tighter, tearing my eyes away from the ground. "Zero I can't do this. I need to get down."

He stiffened, realisation dawning on him. "Are you scared of heights?" The words caught painfully in my throat. Frantically, I nodded, vision blurring from the sudden rush of tears. "Damn. Gimme a sec, we're going down right now." Zura, his worry obvious, quickly lowered us back down to the ground. I dropped to my knees, gasping for breath. No matter how much my chest heaved, I couldn't quite grasp enough oxygen to support myself.

Zero, eyes wide and panicked, knelt down next to me. After a moment of watching my frenzied state, his hands cupped my cheeks, firmly turning my head to look him in the eyes, thumbs affectionately brushing my cheekbones. "Hey," His voice was smooth and carefully controlled, holding so much sweetness that it induced a wave of tears to cascade down my cheeks.

"Hey," He repeated, just as gently. "Look at me, Hikari. Just look at me, okay? You don't need to focus on anything but me. Keep your eyes on mine. Don't look anywhere else."

His thumbs very softly began brushing the tears away from my cheeks. He didn't seem at all bothered that my continued crying hindered this task greatly. "I know you're scared and you have every right to be. But it's alright. You're safe. You're on the ground, now Hikari. There isn't anywhere that you can fall. Do you understand? You're safe here. You don't have to be scared any more."

Shakily, I nodded my head. "Now, we're going to deal with one problem at a time. You're breathing way too fast. Ichii told me about this- it's called Hyperventilation. It's only making you feel worse, so we slow it down. Do you think you can do that for me, Hikari?" I acknowledged this with another small nod. "Good," He praised, as Zura worriedly pressed his little body against my neck, in what he hoped was a comforting manner. "Follow me, alright. I'll help you control your breathing." He continued with a firm, consistent mantra; _Breathe in. Hold. Out. Hold. In. Hold. Out. Hold._ Over and over and over again, until I was no longer struggling for breath.

"There we go," He murmured, fingers sweeping away the last of my tears. "Feeling better?"

"Y-Yeah. Th-Thank you."

He slowly pulled away, eyes assessing me critically. "There's a bathroom up there. D'you need to go in for a minute?"

"Please."

Like an anxious puppy, he hovered a little too close, hands ghosting over my arms as I stood, almost entirely unaided despite my still shaking legs. I paused in the doorway, feeling queasy and terribly uneasy. A few feet away, Zero leaned casually against the base of a tree, a lazy hand shading his face from the sun. Upon noticing my hesitance, he smiled and flashed me a thumbs up. "We'll be right here." He reassured, laughing as Zura slammed into his chest, the little seahorse moving a little too fast to stop in time.

Hesitantly, I smiled and headed for the sinks, splashing cold water over my face, sighing contently at the cold sensation. Tears tracks gently scrubbed away, I warmed my icy hands underneath the hand dryer for a little longer than was necessary and left, feeling calm and refreshed once more.

"Sorry about the wait," I said, with a tinkling laugh. "I'm ready now. Let's go find Ichii?"

A woman walking past gave me an extremely concerned look.

I blinked.

Zero was gone.

Zura, too.

"Zero?" I gnawed down on my lower lip, running around to the back of the building, to make sure he wasn't teasing me. When no mop of blue hair appeared, I began to get concerned. "Zero!" I exclaimed, forcing down my panic. "Zura? Are you there?" Surely the little seahorse wouldn't ignore me? He was far too kind for that. "Where did you go? Zero!"

 _It isn't safe here, not if he's gone._

 _Those two examinees are after me..._ _I have to hide somewhere._

"Z-Zero?" I tried, one last time. With no audible reply, my shoulders slumped in defeat. "Where do I go...?" _Home,_ was my initial plan. But that didn't seem like a sensible choice at all. Standing there like a duck wasn't really sensible either, so I started walking. Or, more accurately, wandering aimlessly, with no real destination in mind. Briefly, I wondered about the bluenette. He'd dissipated into thin air so suddenly, it was almost as though I had imagined him. But surely I couldn't have imagined the warmth from his hands against my skin, or the weight of Zura perching on my shoulder. Both of those things were to real, too tangible for me to imagine.

But if that was the case... Then where had they gone?

A sharp loud hissing caught my attention.

Blocking my path was a horde of angry snakes.

Instantly, I reeled away, confused and more than a little frightened. San was behind me, cutting off my only exit. I was tempted to test my luck with scaling the fence, but San was far too close, I was already aware that she would pull me back down before I could get over. Clenching my fists, I tried to act braver than I felt. "You better stay away from me!"

Interested, she cocked her head with a little giggle. "What if I don't?"

Stumped, I peered anxiously at the snakes from the corner of my eye. They were definitely creeping closer. "What do you want?"

"You, of course," she replied, cheerfully. "You have the Pearl, after all. Don't you?"

"No." I shot back, a little quicker than I should.

"You're funny." San grinned, evidently amused. I gave a startled shriek when a something smooth twisted around my ankle. Looking down, I found them all slithering around my feet, and whimpered pitifully. "I wouldn't move if I were you! They might just attack."

* * *

"Well... That was easier than expected." Forte chuckled, looking far more relaxed than he was entitled to be.

"She did give up without much of a fight," San agreed. I choose to keep my mouth shut. Protesting would save my pride, sure, but it would also raise the guards of my two captors, something which I didn't want to happen. "Where's my reward?"

Forte didn't acknowledge her. He was staring directly at me, blue eyes sweeping over my body, lingering on my cautious expression. Summoning up some courage, I tipped my head and started right back, raising a questioning eyebrow that didn't serve to end the impromptu staring match. "To tell the truth... I don't know if I could hurt her, even if it means aceing the sorcery test..."

After a steady beat of silence in which San seemed to consider his words, she pouted and hit Forte over the head with her golden staff, completely dismissing his worries. "Reward, reward, now!" She demanded, in a child-like, petulant tone that made my toes curl. The boy, only mildly surprised with San's bratty behaviour, merely rolled his eyes and remained perfectly still as she continued her assault on his poor head. Sensing the distraction, I wriggled my hands enough to push the rope up my wrists, wincing as the coarse fibres sliced into my skin.

At this point, Forte had confiscated her staff, causing the girl to pout even further, and was rooting through his pockets.

Ignoring the blood seeping out from underneath the rope, I caught a strip between my teeth and pulled as hard as I could, feeling it loosen just enough for me to have some leverage in my hands. A couple of tugs later and I'd discovered how to pull it free. Unfortunately, San skipping out of the room had me freezing like a rabbit caught in the headlights. Afraid that I might have been caught, I didn't dare move until San had returned.

If spending Forte's money was an Olympic sport, she would've won gold. Barely ten minutes had passed before she was back, humming cheerfully to herself with an armful of boxes.

"Hey, Hikari. Let's go eat some cake together!" San exclaimed, cutting the ropes in one fell swoop and yanking me up to my feet. Evidently, San didn't do _gentle._ Oblivious to the injuries on my wrist, she dragged me over to a make shift table and insistently deposited me in a seat. Grimacing, I used my sleeve to wipe away the blood trailing red rivets down my arm.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

San's child-like eyes peered up at me, all sad and droopy like a kicked puppy. "But you were in the bathroom just before I caught you."

That piqued my interest. Cocking my head, I slowly sat back down. "You were there?"

"Of course," the girl replied, happily. "I followed you!"

Frowning, I barely registered the fact that San had shoved a fork laden with chocolate cake into my mouth. I chewed and swallowed quickly, tapping the table to attract her attention. "You didn't happened to see where Zero went... did you?"

Her expression fell into one of mild distaste. Wrinkling her nose up, she waited until her mouth was clear before speaking. "He's a meanie! I was only looking, but he chased me away anyway. Big bully wouldn't leave me alone for ages." A little scowl marred her features. "And look what he did to my skirt!" Dejectedly, she displayed the singed hem to me. I bit my lip to stop myself from speaking. At least now I knew that he was unhurt and possibly already out there looking for me.

Forte, from where he was leaning against the wall, raised his head and tried not to look too irritated. "Are you quite done yet, San?"

She smiled sweetly, and after making sure that I had began eating the slice of cake she slid across the table towards me, she angled her head back towards the blond. "Do you want to cake, too, For-chan?"

"No I don't!" He said, with an impatient stamp of his foot. San folded her arms with a loud huff, noticeably affected by Forte's bad mood. "What are we going to do, San? We may have got the Pearl, but do we really have to protect this girl for half a year?"

The raven haired girl considered this for a long moment, face screwed up in seriousness. "Hm... In that case," Tapping her finger against her chin, San spared me a small glance. "We don't we just kill her? I mean, there are no rules in the exams saying that we can't kill humans, right? Once she's dead, we can just get the Pearl from her corpse."

I was most alarmed when the seemingly more practical Forte nodded along, thoughtfully. "I see... That does sound like it'll work."

I shot up as if jolted by electricity. "H-Hold on! You're joking, right? You're not really going to kill me... are you? We... We just ate all that cake together, San! Aren't we friends now?" Forte smiled, as if amused at my desperation. Eyes widening, I stumbled back a step. "Y-You... You can't! Forte, please!" Horror flooded my entire body. In an instant I was sprinting flat out towards the exit, Forte's voice following me, holding the same amused tone.

"Do you know what Hypnosis Magic is? I can manipulate people with the music I play on the flute. For example, I can do this,"

The second the sweet melody struck my ear, my feet halted, as if glued to the floor. Every part of me was stiff, unwilling to budge even an inch. I couldn't even open my mouth to scream. As if pulled by invisible threads, my arms contorted, bring my hands up to close tightly around my throat. I couldn't even begin to imagine anything more sick than forcing someone to strangle themselves. But that's exactly what Forte did. The crushing force around my windpipe sealed off my breathing completely. I knew for a fact that I wouldn't last long like this. Already black spots were forming at the edge of my vision. My lungs were on fire, blood searing through my body, setting every nerve alight.

 _I'm going to die._

That was it.

I could do nothing else.

I couldn't even yell for help.

As it happens, I didn't need to.

Just as I was losing hope, an object travelling at high speed crashed through the window. Glass sprayed everywhere, a sharp of which slice my cheek, but I didn't particularly care because Zero was sitting there, Ichii having cushioned his fall, grinning like a complete idiot. "See? I told you it'd be fine!"

"You overdid it, dummy." Ichii scolded, rubbing his sore behind.

Forte straightened up like a bullet, glaring at the two _intruders._ "What do you want?"

"What do you mean, _what do we want_?" Zero mocked, kicking over a box. "Didn't your mommy ever teach you it's not nice to steal from other people?"

"Zero, Ichii! Thank God you're here!" Elated, I struggled back up to my feet and was greeted by the little seahorse slamming into me for a hug. "Hey, little guy. I missed you." I murmured, giving him a gentle squeeze. Zura mumbled back some reassuring words, nuzzling his head into my neck.

"Are you stupid or something? Don't just think you can waltz in here and take the Pearl back without a fight!" Forte struck up a melodic tune, smile sinister and incredibly. "Come to me," He ordered, sharply. Zero and Ichii both started, their expressions fading into blankness. I could feel myself shaking, frightened, too hopeful to believe that this could be happening. "Remove the Crystal Pearl from her stomach!"

Ichii advanced on me. Shaking my head, I backed away. "Ichii! Please, don't!" Seizing my upper arm, he slowly pulled me closer. "No!"

Before I could comprehend what was happening, the brunette had swept me up into his arms, a teasing grin lighting up his youthful features. "Just kidding! We're taking back the princess." He crouched down, tenderly raising my head. "Are you okay? Sorry for scaring you. He can't control us, we know how to counter it, so don't worry. You're safe now." Clapping a hand on my shoulder, the brunette began leading me away, shooting Zero a sideways glance as he did so. "It's your turn, Zero. But you can only go wild for a minute."

Surprised, the bluenette whipped back around, eyes wide with excitement. "Seriously."

Ichii smirked. "Just don't kill him."

Forte cursed. "Dammit, don't think you can just do whatever the hell you like! I'll stop you-"

Zero had moved far faster than I expected from him. "Do you really think you can defeat me with that pathetic magic of yours?" He asked, a second before the ground completely shattered beneath Forte. I gasped, shrinking against Ichii in the wake of the massive display of power. Fire engulfed his fist, shooting out and striking the astounded pair, knocking them so far back that I couldn't quite figure out where they landed.

The bluenette snapped the back on his goggles, casually strolling back over, his arms folded behind his head. "Man, how lame. I didn't even break a sweat!"

"You broke the floor," Zura supplied, helpful.

Zero winced and grinned sheepishly. "Maybe I went a little overboard?" He offered, gingerly. I giggled, which made his cheeks flush with pride. "You okay, Hikari? Not too hurt?" I nodded tentatively, displaying my wrists with a little hesitance. "That doesn't look too good." He frowned and traced the wound, looking to Ichii for advice.

"I can fix this up for you, no problem." The brunette assured, kindly. Zero smiled and ruffled my hair, almost dislodging Zura from his perch on my shoulder.

"I'd really appreciate it." Shifting awkwardly, I chanced a glance through my hair. "Is this... bothersome? Having to protect me, I mean. San and Forte... they said I was too much trouble... They were going to kill me and take the Pearl from my body. I... I don't want to force you to have to help me..."

"Are you an idiot?" Zero's reply was much blunter than I expected. "If we thought this was a waste of time, we wouldn't still be here. Trust me, we're both stubborn as you can get. It's hard as hell to force us to do something we don't want that as a good sign. Especially since we searched half this goddamn city for you, which sucked, by the way. _Majorly._ "

Ichii rolled his eyes. "What he's trying to say is that you can count on us." Choking back a half sob, half laugh, I flung my arms around their necks, hugging them tightly. After a second of hesitation, they melted against me, squeezing me back just as tightly. "We'd really appreciate it if you tried to stay out of trouble from now on, though." Ichii said, teasingly, and I could hear the warmth in his voice.

"No kidding," Zero agreed. "I'm not running around after you again."

"He's only pretending not to care." Zura informed, slyly, loud enough for all three of us to hear. Zero blinked and turned to face him comically slowly. The little seahorse snickered and ducked behind Ichii.

Zero childishly poked his tongue out at the seahorse, before snapping back to face me. "Hey, Hikari, do you have any food? I'm starving!"

"Let's go eat out, my treat."

I giggled at the boy's enthusiastic cheering.

* * *

 **A/N: So that concludes my second chapter of Hikari's Tale, I hope it was good and everyone enjoyed it.** **It would really help me a lot if I could get some feedback on this, to know how I can and improve or what people like is really helpful! xD**


	3. School Day Blues, Part 1

With a raspy breath, my eyes snapped open.

The nightmare hadn't been pleasant, that was for sure. I could still feel my heart pounding erratically. Salty beads of sweat snaked down my back, sending cold shivers up my spine. A pressure around my waist had me stiffening. Two bright blue eyes swam into focus, hovering right above me, a hand clasping the beeping alarm clock suspended mere inches from my face.

"Better wake up and get ready for school. Man, you sleep like the dead, alarm's been blaring for ages. Didn't you hear it?" Despite my sleep-blurred eyes, I could see his brows were furrowed. "Can you turn this thing off? 'S annoying." I blinked exactly three times before giving the intruder a hard two-handed shove, knocking them off from where they had been straddling my waist. The force of the impact had them flying backwards with the most ungodly startled sound I'd ever heard, where they tumbled over the back of my bed, disappearing out of sight.

Swiping at my eyes, I quickly snatched up a nearby torch, clasping it tightly in my hands.

Trembling, I waited in fear for the stranger to lunge back and plunge a knife of some sort into my chest.

"Ow. That hurt." A shock of blue hair emerged. The boy rubbed his head, expression twisting with a pang of pain, scowling in my direction. "What the heck did you do that for?" He snapped, then noticed my weapon and softened significantly. "Hey... You alright? Look like you've seen a ghost."

Hesitantly, I placed the torch down, hugging my arms around my small frame as I recognised the boy, memory still somewhat clouded from sleep. "Zero?" I patted the space next to me, inviting him to venture closer. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to push you. I was having a nightmare. You startled me." A pause, and the guilt was evident in my tone. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

He regarded me carefully, his hand automatically combing through his hair, making tufts stick out in an endearing manner. "Course not, I'm fine. As if a shrimp like you could hurt me." He smirked teasingly, hand gently ruffling my hair. He was comforting me, I realised belatedly, leaning into his touch. In his own strange way, Zero was trying to make me feel better. I appreciated his efforts greatly, releasing a happy hum as the curious boy absently continued to play with my hair, my head resting comfortably on his shoulder. They were broader than I expected.

He froze suddenly and my breath caught in my throat. "Someone's coming," he whispered, urgently, diving under my bed. The boy managed to wriggle into a suitable position to hide himself as my mother knocked and entered at my call.

"Hikari, are you alright? There was a loud noise from up here earlier."

"I'm okay," I replied, watching as my mother fretted, heading over to tease the curtains open, allowing sunlight to flood into the room. "I just had a bad dream. I probably knocked my lamp off the side again, I've done it before, after all."

Closing an open window, her intelligent brown eyes snapped to the ground, where my lamp was thankfully situated. My heart missed a beat as she crouched down to pick it up. "I can get it!" I exclaimed, terrified that she'd spot Zero, who must have been frozen in fear at this point.

"You're acting weird."

"No I'm not."

Raising an eyebrow, she carefully plucked the object off the ground, giving me a long, suspicious look.

"Did you break it?"

"Um..." My eyes widened at the perfect opportunity that had landed straight in my lap. "Yeah, I think I did. Please don't be mad at me."

She laughed, the sound melodic like the chiming of bells. "Don't worry, I'm not mad." she assured, affectionately patting my head. "It's just a lamp, after all. It's not like it's the end of the world, I can just buy a new one. Now, more importantly, are you feeling okay? Nightmares are awful things, aren't they?"

"Yeah," I agreed, smiling lovingly up at her. "They are. I'm okay now, I promise."

She kissed my forehead, and carefully pushed the lamp a little further across my dresser, away from me. "That should do it," she declared, satisfied, adjusting the tightness of her ponytail, dark hair swinging over her shoulders. "You should get ready for school now. Your breakfast is already on the table." Then, she left.

I listened intently to the sound of her retreating downstairs, before ducking my head over the side to stare at Zero. He was curled in a tight ball, eyes wide as saucepans, fingers clamped tightly over his mouth like he didn't even want to risk breathing. "I don't think I could've handled much more of that." He wheezed, sounding completely serious as he slowly allowed himself to relax. "Never again. Thought I was done for for a moment there. Could've swore my heart stopped."

"You're so dramatic," I teased.

"You try hiding under here next time." The boy retorted, smirking.

"What are you doing?"

Startled, I whipped around to find Ichii standing on my little balcony, leaning casually against the door, watching with curiosity. The wind gently pulled at his hair and clothes, giving him a charmingly rumpled air.

"Wasn't that locked?" I asked, with a little frown.

Ichii shifted guiltily, presenting a bobby pin. Apparently, breaking and entering was something both boys were happy to partake in. "Sorry. Your mother closed the window Zero climbed through," he explained.

Zero met my startled gaze easily, from where he had managed to pull himself halfway out from under the bed, looking like a beached whale. "Did you know your window is ridiculously easy to open from the outside?" He inquired, running a thumb over the corner of his lips and not looking too bothered by his current, rather amusing, appearance. "Should get a better lock for it. Don't want some weirdo breaking in in the middle of the night."

Ichii gave him a very long look.

"I don't count!" The boy snapped back, flushing a little. "Right?" He added, glancing at me.

"Uh... Sure?"

"See!" He exclaimed, triumphantly sticking his tongue out at the brunette and managing to roll completely free, almost toppling me over.

Ichii rolled his eyes, only entering my room once he'd been given permission. I was definitely going to like him, I decided. At least he was polite enough to ask first, the whole unlocking my door thing aside. "Are you ready to go, Hikari?" Discretely, I checked my attire and wished I could sink into the ground. It was just my luck for me to wearing the pyjamas with little pink kittens all over them. Blushing, I pulled a blanket up to my chin, hoping they hadn't noticed.

(They had. But Hikari didn't need to know that.)

"What do you mean?" I squeaked out, trying to act normal.

"The Pearl," Ichii explained. "It's still inside of you, meaning other examinees will be after you. Starting from today, we'll be going to school with you. That way, we'll be able to protect you."

"Every day...?"

Zero's palm slapped against him forehead, Ichii gave him a small glare. "I thought you were going to tell her?"

"Well, I was," The boy shot back, crossing his arms with a loud huff. "S'not my fault everything went crazy." Ichii sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself under his breath. "Hey, take that back!" The bluenette growled, anger swelling in his eyes. "I'm _not_ useless."

Ichii continued, as if he hadn't even heard the boy speak. "Yes, every day. I understand that it's a bit annoying, but there isn't any other option. This exam is important, you see. Just because you're surrounded by other people, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be safe. That's why you'll have us close by, so we can make sure nobody can get to you. As long as we're there, I have a feeling a great deal of other examinees wouldn't dare to attack you."

 _"Hikari!"_ The yell came from the floor below. _"Are you up yet? Don't make me come back and get you!"_

I winced, sheepishly. "I'm coming!" I assured, raising my voice to a level she would hear.

 _"Be quick, your food's getting cold!"_

"Go on down," Ichii gave my shoulder a little pat. "We'll be waiting outside."

Zero left with a little salute, swinging easily off my balcony and sliding down the drainpipe with surprising ease, as if he did it every day. I honestly had no idea how the boy made it look so effortlessly cool. Ichii shook his head, smiled at me before joining the bluenette, being far more careful yet not losing any elegance at all. I locked the door behind them, musing to myself about getting a latch as well, before skipping downstairs.

"What have you got under your bed, Hikari?" Were the first words that left her mouth. I smacked my head against the door frame, crumpling to the floor with a little whine. Shocked, she knelt down next to me, her fingers deftly inspecting the area. "You're so clumsy," she said, fondly.

I pouted, probing the area myself and flinching at the sharp pang. "You surprised me."

"Well?" She prompted, looking expectant.

I shifted, averting my eyes. "Blankets." I said, tentatively. "I like to hoard them. They're so warm, and it gets cold at night."

My mother, incredibly laid-back for a parent, merely chuckled. "So that's where they've all ended up. I was beginning to think we had a blanket thief."

I grinned, guiltily. "There are also a couple wedged in the gap between the outhouse. A stray cat lives there... I made a shelter for it and may have been feeding it a little..."

My mother only smiled, used to my affinity with animals by now.

* * *

Fully dressed with my bag resting against my leg, I closed my eyes, savouring the way the wind whipped past my hair, blowing it around my shoulders. "This is so cool! I can't believe you guys are sorcerers."

"We're still in training, remember." Ichii smiled, carefully adjusting his course. "It's a good thing I look older than I am," he commented, wryly. "I don't think I'm technically old enough to drive in your world. Wouldn't want to get into trouble on our first day of school."

"How old are you?" I asked, curious.

"Sixteen in November," Zero informed, while Ichii focused on stopping gently at the traffic lights. The bluenette jerked his thumb towards himself, proudly tipping his chin. "I'm fourteen in August."

I pouted upon realising they were both older than me. "Thirteen in March." I said, reluctantly. Zero's smug look only increased. I stuck my tongue out at him. "Oh. Does that mean you'll be in different classes?"

Zero fully swivelled in his seat to talk to me, despite Ichii disapproving greatly. "Nah. Something as small as that won't stop us. We managed to sneak in, don't worry. Lied about my age and made an excuse about Ichii missing two years for medical reasons." He nodded his head towards the brunette, who tore his eyes from the road momentarily to smile at me. "Ichii forged the papers, he's good at that sort of stuff. Made it look all realistic. Said we were in the system, too, so they don't demand for a guardian or anything."

"It's easier than you think." Ichii added, with a little shrug.

A screeching from overhead had me clamping my hands over my ears. Zero screwed his face up, annoyed. "The hell?" The appearance of a ginormous owl had him sighing in exasperation. "Oh, joy. Ichii, you might want to step on it. San and Forte have found us."

"Just what I wanted." The brunette muttered, with poisonous sarcasm. "Hold on, I'll see what I can do." The boy made a dangerous cut across the road, barely avoiding colliding with another car. Salmoning between vehicles with expert precision, Ichii managed to get us into a less densely populated area and hit a button. Zero's cursed almost immediately and carefully vaulted over the seat to land next to me, gently covering my eyes with his hands.

"You'll thank me for it later," He whispered, his voice protectively fierce. "How we doing, Ichii?"

"Not good," the brunette returned. "We don't have time for this. Looks like we're going to have to fight."

"You mean, _I'm_ going to fight," Zero corrected. "You have to drive. Hikari, keep your eyes closed, alright? Trust me on this." With a fair amount of reluctance, I did as he asked, whimpering quietly when his warm touch disappeared. I didn't quite understand what was happening and felt terribly disorientated, but Zero had sounded so deathly serious I didn't dare disobey him.

"Zero, you have one chance to hand over the Crystal Pearl." Forte, his voice raised. He must have been yelling across a considerable distance.

"Not happening!" The bluenette returned in a parade ground bellow.

A pretty, melodic tune struck up, and I felt my body slowly gravitate upwards. Aware that this wasn't necessarily normal, I flailed and yelled, "What's happening?"

Zero growled, the sound feral and deadly. "Bastards, that's cheating!"

"Zero!" I exclaimed, more panicked now as sharp talon-like appendages closed around my waist. "What's going on?"

"Stay still." He instructed, brimming with fury. "You're going to be okay, don't worry."

Warmth raced past my cheek and a loud shriek of pain near deafened me. Then, all of a sudden it felt like I was falling and I opened my eyes to find the ground eagerly racing up to meet me. I screamed, tears rising in my eyes, knowing that this far was certainly high enough to kill me. To make matters worse, San exclaimed, "Don't forget about me. I wanna play, too!" and summoned a horrific creature she dubbed an 'Air Fish', which was some kind of greatly deformed piranha. I really didn't want to know what kind of crazy steroids that thing was junked up on.

Rows of deadly sharp teeth greeted me, and briefly I realised that falling to death wasn't really my main concern right now.

"Hikari!" Ichii yelled, accelerating the car towards me. Belatedly, I realised that it was flying by some kind of witchcraft. Alternatively, I was hallucinating the whole thing. Both seemed equally likely at this point. I closed my eyes, bracing for impact. "Charm Capture!" An impact that never came. The next thing I knew, I'd landed solidly in Ichii's lap, the brunette using a strong arm to keep me pressed against his chest, the creature having been reduced to a fiery mess of ashes courtesy of a _very_ annoyed Zero.

"See you soon, Hikari!" San exclaimed, waving cheerfully as they departed, for now.

Zero glared after them, sitting back down and giving a lock of my hair a small tug. I glanced over him, which was apparently what he wanted, because he smiled. It lacked his usual cocky, confident edge, brimming with reassurance. He must have noticed me staring at the rapidly approaching ground. "It's alright. We're landing now." The wheels lightly touched the ground just as he finished speaking. "See? No more heights."

I barely managed to muster up a half-smile.

Ichii's fingers danced over my skin in comforting circles. "You have acrophobia?" He asked, softly.

Zero nodded, grimly. "She's terrified of heights. It's real bad. Don't ever take her up there again."

"Noted."

His expression twisted into a scowl. "We're getting rid of this damn car."

"No way in hell we're keeping this death trap." Ichii agreed. "Completely puts me out of action. We're just lucky it was those two idiots that found us first. Would've been much worse if it had been anyone else."

* * *

"Good morning, Hikari," Kei greeted rather enthusiastically, as she and Ayumi clapped a hand on either of my shoulders. I observed the brunette girl with a suspicious look, wondering what alien had replaced my friend for this monster. Usually she struggled greatly with morning, citing them to be pure evil from the pits of hell- which was why she did them as little as humanely possible. Seeing her _happy_ so early was concerning.

"Who are you and what have you done with Kei?"

Ayumi elbowed the tall girl out of the way, grimacing. "She's had coffee," the girl informed, in a stage whisper. My horror must have showed in my expression, because Ayumi cringed back. "Yeah. Pity me."

"I do," I replied, patting her sympathetically.

Kei was unpredictable with caffeine in her system. She wasn't uncontrollable and irritating, like Ayumi on her infamous sugar rush (something we still refused to let her live down), but her randomness was unnerving, to say the least.

"I still can't believe what happened to us yesterday," Kei said, cutting into our secret conversation.

The black haired Ayumi nodded her head, bouncing with energy. "I almost freaked out when that car fell from the sky." I was sorely tempted to remind her that she did, in fact, freak out. "They said it was for a TV show. Looks like it's going to be awesome."

"Really?" I fought to keep the smile off my face. Zero was going to love this. I was certain even the mature Ichii would be amused to hear this cover story. If only my friends knew what _really_ happened back there.

"Weird, huh?"

"Weird." I agreed, unable to resist adding a quiet, "It all looked so real."

"Didn't it?" Ayumi breathed, excitement shining in her eyes.

Oh, if only they knew.

* * *

As I disinterestedly doodled on the back page of my exercise book, I could distinctly hear a rather different tone to the normal morning routine, and, glancing up, I saw both Zero and Ichii being introduced as new transfer students. The bluenette caught my eye and smirked, giving me a secret little salute. I smiled and discretely waved back.

"Your seats..."

"Hikari." Zero was leaning causally against the blackboard, not looking bothered at the attention he had attracted. "I want to sit next to Hikari, if that's alright with everyone." And then he smiled a smile so charming I was sure that it would have people gladly falling at his feet. And then, like he owned the place, he went ahead and dropped down next to me, rocking back on his chair.

The desk on my other side wasn't free. The girl had been content to sit there, preening her nails for all of three seconds before she caught sight of Ichii. She'd stared at him with hungry eyes while both had been introduced, and the moment that Zero had plonked down in his seat, she'd moved from hers, fluttering her eyelashes at the bemused brunette. "... Guess I'll be taking the other side."

Ayumi, losing all sense, tipped my chair backwards to talk. Zero reflexively steadied me, before pulling away, evidently uninterested in our 'girl talk'. "Who are these new guys? Are you friends with them, Hikari?"

The rest of the class were staring, I noticed, and felt my face flame at being the centre of attention. Ichii was watching me out of the corner of his eye, looking somewhat concerned at my discomfort. "Uh..." Zero was failing at being discrete, expression hopeful. "Yeah. They are." Unfortunately, instead of calming the insatiable desire for gossip, this information only seemed to fuel the fire even further. But Zero looked so delighted I didn't care as much as I thought I would. The bluenette was smiling and failing desperately at pretending that he wasn't.

It was adorable, really.

"Aren't we supposed to being doing something?" Ichii asked, with a little sigh. "I mean, I know I missed a lot of school, but it can't have changed this much."

Zero snorted. "I tried telling you it sucked, but did you listen, _no._ Welcome to my world."

Thankfully, our sensei managed to reign in control after that, and we continued as normal.

"Hey, Zero, Ichii. Did you register for all of my classes?"

"Of course," Zero whispered back, immediately. "We can't afford to let our guard down."

"You don't have to worry, we won't let anything happen to you."

I gnawed on my lower lip, but nodded, accepting their answer. When the period ended, I'd barely packed all my stuff away before Zero was leading me out of the room. My bag joined his, slung over his shoulder, while Ichii flanked my side, his sharp eyes searching the corridors.

"What are you doing?" I whined, digging my heels in.

Zero looked nonplussed. "What do you think? We're taking you to class. We have Chemistry next, right?"

"Yeah... but I normally wait for Kei and Ayumi- ah, Zero-" He'd tugged me after him, impatient. "They're going to be annoyed at me." He didn't listen. "Will you stop already?"

"Zero." Ichii's voice held a scolding note.

The bluenette rolled his eyes, looking bored. "They have class with you next, right?" I scowled, but nodded. "There. Problem solved. Meet them there, I'll even apologise if it makes you feel better." Feeling as though it was the best option I had, I obediently trotted after him. Although he was visibly annoyed, the bluenette didn't pull me harshly, something I was grateful of.

Ichii came to a halt behind an empty desk that usually occupied myself, Kei and Ayumi. "This looks like a good spot."

Before I could protest, Ayumi and Kei had hurried in after us, glaring at the boys as they sat down, oblivious to their irritation. "Hey," the shorter girl snarled, hands on her hips. "What do you think you're doing? Get out of our seats." She gestured to herself and Kei, the latter's emerald eyes gleaming with challenge. "Don't think just because you know Hikari, that you can just drag her off like that. I don't want to see you manhandling her like that again." She was glaring daggers at Zero, I realised, who only snorted.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"Good," Kei said. "Now move."

Ichii smacked the bluenette upside the head before turning to smile pleasantly at the two girls. "Sorry about him, please ignore his attitude. He's just feeling crabby today, aren't you, Zero?"

I could see that he would much rather down an entire bottle of cyanide than reply. Jaw clenched irritably, Zero ground out a quiet, "Yeah. What he said. Sorry."

"If you don't mind, we'd like to stay as close as possible to Hikari today. We're new to this city, so it's kind of scary, you know? We don't know anyone here at all, except her. It's a relief to have a friendly face, especially when you're like me. I haven't been in school for two years... Gotta say I'm a little nervous." The brunette's plaintive expression was tugging at _my_ heart strings, and I knew it was a load of bull. Man, he was good. "I hope it isn't too much of a bother..."

Zero was really laying it on thick, I realised. After acting like a complete jerk, he was leaning forward, blue eyes locked on Ichii's, sending him silent reassurances.

I made a note to remember how good they both appeared to be at manipulating people.

Kei narrowed her eyes, but Ayumi softened. She was a sucker for sob stories, everyone knew that. "I _suppose_ it's alright. Just this once."

It wouldn't be once, though. Ayumi had fallen hook, line and sinker. I was aware that just one flash of some magnificently crafted puppy-dog-eyes and she'd be caving again. Kei wasn't entirely pleased with this turn of events, and glared outright at Zero, who didn't waver under her gaze. "Shouldn't you go sit down?" He asked, cheekily, and thus a great rivalry was born.

I rolled my eyes. "You two are unbelievable."

Zero only grinned back.

* * *

 **A/N: I don't own Save me! Lollipop, all rights go to it's owners and producers etc. My cover image is a black and white picture of Hikari that I drew. It would really help me a lot if I could get some feedback on this, to know how I can and improve or what people like is really helpful.**

 **A big thank you to CresantShooter123 and Breebreebabygirl who favourited and followed my story, and to LoveInuyasha22 for reviewing,** **I really appreciate it!**


	4. School Day Blues, Part 2

Sighing, I leant back against the chain link fence, its swaying movements ceasing as my hands wound around the cold metal wire so tightly that my knuckles were as white as the clouds gently gliding above me. The three of us were completely alone, tucked safely behind the school building, a feat which was actually something that required quite a bit more effort that one might believe. We practically had all eyes on us from the get-go, it was more than a little difficult to manage to pry ourselves away from curious crowds of girls who would stare and gawk, or otherwise shoot off such unanswerable, unbelievably stupid questions that they actually made me feel tempted to repeatedly smack my head against the nearest convenient wall. It had taken a while for everything to build up to such a degree that it was threatening the composure of my normally shy, meek attitude and I finally managed to muster up the courage to ask the question I had been dying to ask throughout a whole day of embarrassment.

"Seriously, can't you guys just give me a minute to myself? I'll be okay here."

To be honest, I already knew that it was hopeless even before Ichii opened his mouth to answer, with his usual, kind voice and a softly sympathetic expression. "I'm sorry, Hikari, I really am, but we've got to keep a close eye on you." The sigh that travelled through my body was probably the loudest one I had ever emitted in my life. I hung my head even further, shielding my face with a veil of hair as I tried to banish the tears prickling at the my eyes as my shoulders slumped forward, defeated.

"The whole school's gossiping about us, they think we're all going out. I hate it. Everyone's staring, its-" I just shook my head and released my grip on the fence, burying my face in my hands. They didn't understand. They could escape from this torment at Christmas, or in fact, any time they liked before that- not that the whispers were even remotely bothering them. I, on the other hand, was stuck here until I could move up into Highschool, where I would most likely be followed by more than half of my classmates. I could never escape unless I moved to the other side of the world, and I'd rather pull all my hair out then leave such great friends and a beautiful home.

"Stop complaining," Zero replied, without a hint of sympathy, his arms folded crossly over his chest. "This is your fault for swallowing the pearl, anyway." Of course, just because he was usually like this, it didn't mean that his biting words had no effect. In fact, they annoyed me a great deal, so much so that I automatically retaliated, bolting upright, hissing furiously at him.

"You think I like this? If I'd had any idea what that stupid pearl was, I never would've eaten it in the first place, jerk!" I spat furiously, before I could even remotely begin to reel in my emotions. Having closed the space between us so dramatically with that one gesture of rearing forwards, we were now standing almost nose to nose, keeping in mind that I had raised myself up onto my tip-toes to do so. His cool blue orbs were staring into ones of a slightly darker hue; eyes that were bright, alive and ablaze with smouldering fury. Then, snapping back to my senses, I stumbled back, completely mortified. The fire sparked, burned, then quickly died. Without even sparing another glance at the two boys, I turned and retreated.

"Hey, Hikari!"

"Hikari, get back here!" Zero called after me, a commanding tone in his voice. I paused. My fists clenched at my sides, swaying anxiously on the spot, almost, just almost convincing myself that it would be better for me to whirl around and apologise profusely. But I couldn't. I just _couldn't._ There was no way I could face Zero after that. Not this soon. Taking a deep breath to steel myself, I continued to walk away, my fists so tight that the nails were digging painfully into the palms, possibly gearing up to leave large, painful indents. **_Bad thought:_** _That was really mean of you, Hikari. You know he was only trying to protect you. So why did you have to snap at him like that? He probably hates you now. Good job ruining everything._ "I'm not kidding!... Hikari!" **_Reasonable thought:_** _Zero isn't going to hate you for something as stupid as that. So you lost your temper, big deal. Just cool down and apologise next time you meet. It's as simple as that._

As I heard the two of them quietly begin talking among themselves, a small mewl stopped me dead in my tracks. Outside the fence, cautiously padding closer was a tabby cat, watching me with delicate, wide eyes. "Hello pretty kitty," I said, slowly kneeling down and outstretching my hand towards it, poking a couple of fingers through one of the many large gaps in the chain-link fence. Just watching the adorable creature was enough for my anger to dissipate completely. "Come over here. It's okay, come on." I coaxed gently, to which the cat hesitantly obeyed, easily snaking its petite body through a gap, mewling as it began rubbing it's head against my knee. I allowed myself to released a small, happy giggle. "Are you itchy, little kitty cat?" I asked, lightly scratching behind it's silvery ear to which it purred contently.

Fixing me with it's big emerald orbs, it prodded me, kneading my foot with it's soft little paws before it nimbly jumped up onto my lap. Positively delighted, I, laughing quietly, scooped the little cat into my arms, to which it didn't protest. It merely snuggled closer, nuzzling my chin with it's little head and puring softly. "You're such a gorgeous little kitty cat," I cooed, stroking it's soft fur in small, rhythmic movements, cuddling the little kitten closer to my body.

"What are you doing?" I gently pirouetted to face the two boys, my skirt flaring just above my knees and my locket sweeping out in a wide arc as I did so, displaying the little cat to the two boys. I wouldn't be surprised if my smile lit up my whole face.

"Isn't she just the sweetest little kitty cat you've ever seen in your life?" I gushed, laughing as I felt the cat lick my fingers. Zero stared at me, his expression unreadable, though I could tell he was fazed by my sudden change of attitude. "This is the little kitty that lives between my outhouse, I'd never would've thought she'd follow me to school. She's so smart!" The cat gave another tiny mewl and, closing my eyes as I gently cradled the her closer to my chest I squealed. "Aw, you're so cute!" Though my joyful expression was wiped off my face as we rounded the corner. I had no time to hide the cat, which I had dubbed Tabby, before she was spotted by most possibly the nastiest teacher in school.

Before I could even blink he was already invading my personal space, his voice demanding, while I just shrank back, pulling the cat even closer to my chest in an attempt to protect her from his biting words. "Will you stop yelling at her?" Zero shouted, his fists clenched at his sides as he stepped forward to block the teacher's path to me. "Jesus, are you trying to deafen the poor girl or something? She's only got that damn cat because I asked her to help me coax it out, I thought it was injured!" For a moment he was completely flummoxed, stunned into temporary silence. I couldn't help but feel exactly the same. Zero was defending me, even after our little fight. This boy was full of surprises. "If anything it's my fault, so if you want to blame anyone, blame me! Don't just scream like that at someone who can't defend themselves!"

Zero standing up to a teacher for me... it was beyond touching. In fact, I was sure that at any moment I would throw my arms around the boy and squeeze the life out of him with one big, grateful hug. Thankfully, I managed to restrain myself though. Meanwhile, Ichii was frowning intently at me. It was actually a little unnerving. With a movement so quick I could barely even register it, he'd reached out and grabbed my wrist, gently manoeuvring it so my palm was facing upwards. "Zero!" I shrieked, finally realising that the cat was not licking my fingers. Crimson red was smeared almost artfully across the palm of my hand. "She's bleeding!" It took about a second for Zero to process this information. Without warning, Zero grabbed my free hand, despite the blood and hurtled around the teacher, sending him one last glare as he passed, Ichii following at my other side.

* * *

Sighing, I whirled around to face Zero and Ichii, both eager to continue their protection now that we had allowed Tabby to be taken to the nearby vet's. They had been dogging my steps ever since and now we were on the second floor, positioned next to the stairs, the girl's toilets right in front. "Please, can't you two just give me a little space?" I asked, exasperated but already aware of what the answer would be. "I understand that you want to protect me, but you're suffocating me! I can't act normal, or concentrate in my lessons, I can't even talk to my friends!"

Ichii frowned. "Well, I can see how that could be a problem. I really wish there was some other way to do this, but there isn't, I'm sorry about all this, Hikari."

"Aw, this is so frustrating." I fumed, shaking my head as I stepped away from them. "I wish I could just- Kyah!" My foot slipped off even ground, throwing my whole body off axis as I fell sideways, almost in slow motion, the stairs seeming to grin Cheshire Cat style as I went to tumble down them. **_Bad Thought:_** _There's no way you're going to survive this._ I could barely hear Zero as he yelled my name, though I suppose it was more to do with my scream than anything else.

Ichii reached out and grabbed my wrist, hauling me forward with such force that when I collided with his chest, he fell backwards onto his rear, palm resting on the small of my back, pushing me tightly into his chest. Eyes closed, I took a moment to steady myself. My arms were locked around his middle, preventing him from moving, but it didn't look like he was complaining too much. "Hikari. Are you okay?" Carefully, I raised my head. Ichii was still smiling, it was almost like smiling was his default expression, but this time I could see the concern in his eyes and the warmth in his gentle, kind voice. "Are you okay, Hikari? Does anything hurt?"

I quickly stood up, feeling my cheeks begin to flame up as I stumbled for my words. In all honesty, my knee was stinging a fair bit from where I had scraped it, but I was far too embarrassed to pay that tiny niggling pain any attention. "A-A-Ano, I- I'm fine... Nothing hurts... I-Ichii- thank you for saving me... I'm... I'm going to the bathroom!" And with that I raced through the first door on my left, slamming it behind me as I attempted to catch my breath. _That was so embarrassing..._

I could only gasp in surprise as I was surrounded by a gaggle of excited girls, all calling out in some form or other, demanding to know the relationship between me, Ichii and Zero. All of the questions were so unanswerable, they just left me gaping like a fish. I searched the door for the handle, but couldn't discover it without turning around and broadcasting my intentions to the entire crowd. A chuckle caught my attention, and there, with his arms folded, stood Forte, San of course, right next to him, blending right in. I briefly wondered how they'd managed to acquire some female uniforms, but that unnecassary thought was quickly banished from my mind. "This is going to be a whole lot easier than I expected, San. Now give us the pearl!"

 _Wait... Girl's uniforms?_ "Forte... I'm sorry." This was met with a confused _huh_ as the boy was completely thrown off track. "I really am... I thought you were a boy, Forte. I'm so sorry."

He looked horrified as he stood up straighter, glaring at me. "I am a boy, you weren't mistaken!" He yelled, pointing a finger in my direction as he continued. "The one and only reason why I would ever wear a dress is to capture you! Got it?" This statement wasn't taken all too kindly by the other girls present, who promptly chased Forte out of the toilets, baying for blood and screaming loud insults which almost always involved the word _pervert._ Despite the fact that he was the enemy, I still wished him the best of luck, since he was definitely going to need it to get out of that situation alive. Using the distraction to my advantage, I followed them to the door, my eyes peeled for any sign of Zero and Ichii. I needed to warn them about San and Forte.

The two aforementioned boys raced past me, obviously not hearing me yell their names as the went, chased by the herd of excited, babbling girls, the same girls who had previously been hunting down a terrified Forte. _It doesn't take much for these girls to get sidetracked, does it?_ "Zero! Ichii!" I exclaimed, my voice lost in the sea of others all vying for the poor boy's attention. I managed to take almost four steps to follow them before a rather nasty looking prospect stared me right in the face. Before me was one of San's Air Fish.

 ** _Bad Thought:_** _You're so screwed._

"That's called an Air Fish," San informed me, with a what you could mistakenly call a cute smile, which was in actuality her default evil smile. "It's a fish, but it's a carnivore, so you might wanna be careful because they are known to eat people now and again." Turning on my heels I raced down the corridor, unfortunately in opposite direction to which Zero and Ichii had been headed. "Wanna play tag?" San's voice called after me, as she quickly mounted a big Air Fish. "I promise that it will be a total blast and those bullies aren't here to ruin our fun!" I quickly barged through a set of double doors, slamming them shut with my back and attempting to keep them that way while San and the Air Fish strained against them on the other side.

"I don't wanna play!" I yelled back, my voice rising a whole octave in sheer panic. Realising this wouldn't work, I gave up and raced forwards, reached the staircase and hurriedly began climbing the stairs, my locket thumping painfully against my chest, almost in time with my pounding heart. I was moving faster than I ever had in my whole life, not daring to look back in case I lost any ground. The teeth on that thing looked so deadly and sharp, I was not about to take my chances with being fish food. Screaming as I felt the fish clawing at my hair with it's teeth, I accelerated, racing down the corridor, grabbing the sharp corner of the wall and sliding around it, using it to propel me forwards and, before I could even register the movement I had jumped up and mounted the banister, sliding down it. I jumped when I reached the bottom, careering through another set of double doors before San conjured some Air Fish to block the way outside. _Looks like I'm going to have to go back up..._

Once again, after I'd crossed the corridor, I frantically ran up the stairs, this time taking the next set up to the roof. I didn't stop to question the logic with that move, nor the fact that I would be well and truly trapped once I was up there, finally realising as I slammed the door behind me, tripping over my own feet and sprawling across the ground, feeling a scream of terror rise into my throat. I pushed myself off the ground and hurriedly scrambled up to my feet. I didn't stop running until I'd used up all the space left; my back pressed up against the railings, well and truly cornered. I cradled my stomach, my chest heaving from running for so long, a painful stitch sending agonising jolts across my side.

All of my muscles were screaming for me to stop, to just collapse. I couldn't. I had to escape, I had to do something. Picking up a stone, I threw it as hard as I could. The pebble made a smooth, sloping arc which was easily dodged by the target it was aimed at. Unluckily, with that last move it looked as if I had riled up the Air Fish even more. "San! That's enough!" Zero jumped, seemingly out of thin air - which is probably likely since he is a sorcerer and all- to block the path to me. "Way to go, genius, I thought I told you to stay close to us." He muttered angrily to me, in an undertone that was rather lacking in the quiet aspect.

"Don't be such a jerk!" I exclaimed, feeling my panic cloud my senses, and throw my politeness, my shyness an basically everything positive about myself completely out of the window. "Couldn't you see that I tried? You guys were sticking so close, though, it was making me go insane! And I _tried_ to warn you about San and Forte but it was you that disappeared and when I tried to follow, San attacked me! How is any of this _my_ fault?"

"You shouldn't have left us in the first place, you idiot!" Zero yelled, his face mere inches from mine, which, in normal circumstances, might have fazed me, but right now it only caused to make me even angrier. Here I was, after having nearly ran myself to death, having avoiding the tempting fate of tripping down, or alternatively up the stairs on two occasions and successfully avoided being eaten alive by stupid fish and he had the audacity to bite my head off. And seeing how terribly this day had gone, I think I was perfectly entitled to have my little prima donna moment in which I had to escape to the sanctuary of the bathroom.

 ** _Bad Thought:_** _You've just completely screwed the both of you over, Hikari. Thanks to you, you're both trapped. Nice job, genius._ "I'm sorry if I needed to go to the bathroom, jerk! And who are you calling an idiot? You're the one that's being an idiot!" _**Bad Thought:** Who are you to argue with him? You disobeyed them, and you're in trouble because of it. This is your fault. _

"Well then, watch this; idiot, idiot! Idiot, idiot, idiot!"

 ** _Bad Thought:_** _He could just leave you right here and now._

Before I could spit back a clever response movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. San was conjuring more Air Fish, lining them up, ready to attack. That quickly snapped me back to my senses. **_Reasonable Thought:_** _They were suffocating, sure. But that's their job. They promised to protect you, and they were doing that. Instead of crying and running away, grow up and deal with it. Now, apologise. Zero doesn't need distractions right now._ "This isn't a good time to be arguing." I said, diplomatically. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Zero." He turned back to face San and my lips twitched up in a slight smile as he muttered an apology back. It was very fast, and, to be honest, barely audible, but it was still an apology and it was still somewhat sincere.

"Hey everyone, check out my awesome new fish! I have a whole squadron of them now and they can't wait to sink their teeth into you." Laughing manically, San brandished her golden staff, pointing it in our direction, sending the fish flying towards us. "Get 'em fishies!" She urged, bouncing up and down in obvious delight. _She's enjoying every second of this. It's all like one big game to her..._

"Tell them I don't taste very good." I cried out, shrinking back, my hands shielding my face as Zero blasted them with his Destruction Magic, a cry of _oh, no you don't_ echoing loudly through the silence. But, impressive as it was, that feat was barely even acknowledged by San, who simply conjured up even more Air Fish to replace those who had fallen.

"Gimme a break!" Zero exclaimed, blasting them away, along with the two other reincarnations that followed. However much I wanted to aid Zero, I knew I was completely unable to, and with a third group heading our way, he decided to pull out the big guns and blasted them with his Magic Cannon. When I peeked through my fingers I could see that Zero was crouched on the floor and despite his claims that the attacks hadn't fazed him, I could tell that using his magic was putting a lot of strain on him. My wish to be able to do something, anything, even the tiniest bit useful at that moment was magnified tenfold. Instead, I satisfied myself with staying focused on the battle, forcing myself to keep my hands away from my face, standing poised, ready to run at a moment's notice while mentally sending positive energy towards Zero- something which I had seen once on a television program, although I was quite sceptical to whether it actually worked or not. Though, right now, I was ready to try anything to help. As San sent her Big Air Fish towards us, it knocked Zero out of the way, making it perfectly clear it's real target was me. "Hikari!"

Steeling myself, I ran straight at it, ducking down at the last moment and absorbed the impact with a roll, while Zero punched it, his hand alight- courtesy of his destruction magic. Upon Zero's instruction, I scrambled back behind him, watching as he continued to fight for me, though when he grabbed his arm in a quite lull of the fight, I could tell he wasn't as fine as he led me to believe. "Zero!" I exclaimed, rushing forward, fully intending to aid the boy, to take care of his wound. "You're injured. Let me help you!"

 _ **Bad Thought:** Zero's hurt because of you. He could die and it would be all your fault. _

"Don't worry, it's just a scratch." He replied indifferently, ignoring me as I pressed on rather persistently, pointing out that his shirt was ripped and his arm was _bleeding_ so it couldn't possibly be _just a scratch._ "I told you, it's nothing!" Shaking his head, he merely shoved me hard in the chest as soon as he realised San had sent another Air Fish towards us, pushing me back onto my rear but succeeding in keeping me out of harms way while he dealt with the threat.

"Why do you try so hard to protect her, Zero? All you care about is the Crystal Pearl, anyway. So why are you going to all this trouble?"

"What I do is my business!"

San continued to keep up her relentless barrage of Air Fish, Zero struggling to keep up with the bombardment while I scowled at her, keeping a wary eye on the fight the entire time. "But still, if you just get the pearl from Hikari then you wouldn't have to go though all this and get yourself injured." She watched us from above, already conjuring another wave of fish lined up and ready for the next onslaught as I decided now would be a good time to be standing.

"Jeez, you're wasting your breath there, San. I've already decided that I'm going to protect her and I won't let her down!" Before I could say anything, he'd whirled around to face me, anticipating my reply even though I hadn't even had the chance to open my mouth. His eyes were blazing with such determination, all I could do was smile. "A promise is a promise."

"Oh well, I guess it's time for me to end our little play date and deliver the final blow. Go, Air Fish, Go!"

I gasped, but fully believed that Zero could defeat our opponent. He said before that protecting someone gives you unimaginable strength. Well, I believed him and as long as I had faith, I figured he could do the impossible. And I didn't care what San said. Zero would protect me with his best ability and even though I couldn't protect him from the magic examinees in return, I would find a way to repay both him and Ichii for their trouble. "That's it San, I've had enough of this! Destruction Magic: Magic Cannon!" He attacked San's Air Fish without mercy and the whole area was engulfed with a radiant flash of light before smoke poured around, clouding my vision.

I could hear San laughing, obviously not fazed by the fireworks show. "Wow, that was great! But no matter how many you destroy, I can always make more!" and with that, San brandished her staff, ready to send another bombardment towards me. I smiled very sweetly back, already fully aware with what Zero had done and feeling very proud of him for pulling it off so effortlessly.

"Wow, you actually fell for it." Zero's voice, fairly smug, sounded from behind San, the boy himself concealed in the billows of smoke. "This curtain of smoke was actually pretty useful. Gimme that." He snatched the staff away from her, holding it high above his head. "Thanks." As San lunged forward to retrieve her staff, Zero merely placed his hand on her forehead, easily holding her back as her hands flailed just short of her staff. "Oh no, I have the wand now, so I'm in control, San and you can't cause any more mischief." He gently shoved her, causing the girl to stumble back a couple of paces scowling up at him.

"That wasn't mischief. And now I'll take that back." Zero barely had enough time to turn around before Forte had snatched the staff away, out of Zero's firm grasp, still clad in the female school uniform. It seemed as if he too had used Zero's smoke distraction to his own advantage and had managed to sneak up behind Zero while he was focused on San.

"Forte?" Zero managed to choke out, his eyes bulging as he looked the boy up and down, shoving his hand hard against his mouth as he tried to look anywhere other that at the blond, thankfully knowing that collapsing into a fit of giggles definitely wasn't going to help improve the situation. Seeing Zero's reaction was just priceless.

"Mischief implies playfulness, but I can assure you, we're both completely serious. We'll get that pearl from you somehow."

"Yeah, well, word of advice; don't expect to be taken seriously while wearing that." Zero replied, gesturing towards Forte's very feminine attire, barely managing to hold back his laughter. To be honest, I was also struggling in the department of Not-Laughing-At-The-Person-Who-Could-Possibly-Kill-Me-At-Any-Second.

"Just shut up, Zero!" Forte snapped, by now very furious. "And prepare yourself for the onslaught."

"Alright! Time for me to have a little fun again with summoning magic! Ready? Big Air Fish! Attack!" Gasping, I retreated back but found I had little to none space left to do so when my back hit the rails. Zero landed neatly before me just as I needlessly dived sideways, landing heavily on my shoulder as I rolled to absorb the impact, one of my ribbons being harshly yanked from my hair as I did so. From my position on the floor, I could only wince as I carefully rotated my shoulder, Zero stepping to the side, once again blocking their path to me, taking up a stance while Forte began playing his flute, sending a wall of fire shooting towards us, by it's side the giant fish. I barely acknowledged the boy's warning, I was too focused on the throbbing pain stabbing me all along my side. I'd completely screwed up that landing.

"Zero!" Ichii jumped down to protect us, already initiating his Crystal Barrier while Zero made a remark which sounded like; _there you are_. I couldn't help but feel it was about time Ichii showed up. Zero seemed to be struggling a little with fighting San and Forte on his own. "Forte! It doesn't matter what you do to try to stop us, we will overcome you and protect Hikari! I summon Defence Magic: Reflecting Tornado!" I shielded my eyes as a blinding light began emanating from Ichii's hand. Both San and Forte's attacks quickly bounced off, heading straight back towards them. They screamed as the were propelled skywards, soaring off and yelling inaudible gibberish.

"Are you alright, Hikari?"

"I'm just fine, thanks to you two." And with that I beamed back at them, before another thought struck so fast, it was as if I'd received a slap round the face and my happiness seeped away somewhat. "But Zero, you're hurt." I hurried forward, my hands twisting at my neck-tie, struggling to loosen it. "Here, let me help you."

I gently took his arm, which, thankfully, he didn't protest to, in fact I was sure he hadn't even noticed my presence, he was too busy glaring at Ichii. "Ichii, you took too long to show up!" He exclaimed angrily, his scowl only increasing in size, while I began tugging at his sleeve, slowly pulling the material up, being extra careful to avoid having it catch of his wound. It would be a whole lot worse if I aggravated his injury. "Where the hell were you?"

"I'm sorry about that," Ichii replied rather nonchalantly, shrugging over at Zero with an attitude that seemed just perfect with his usual calm composure. "I thought you would've easily been able to handle opponents of their skill level." He smirked a little, a hand resting idly on his hip as he cocked his head slightly to one side. "I guess I was mistaken." Zero's scowl only seemed to deepen as he used his free hand to lightly punch Ichii on the arm.

I positioned the cloth under Zero's injured arm, tilting my head slightly as I watched him nervously, waiting for permission. He nodded his head a little. Though, as I began to tighten it, I was forced to ignore Zero's cries of pain. Ichii helped to prevent the poor boy from swinging away from my grip, but I winced as his elbow caught me with a glancing blow which, aside from causing me discomfort, seemed to subdue him. "I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed, bowing down again and again as I apologised several times. Ichii merely ruffled my hair and chucked, before lightly replacing the ribbon that had been tugged out of my hair.

He didn't seem to notice my blush.

* * *

I walked down the corridor with a new-found spring in my step. Every movement felt as if I was floating, it was almost as if I was walking on air. Zero and Ichii both flanked my sides but this time I didn't mind. In fact, I appreciated their company. To be honest, right now, if everyone in the school started staring at us at that precise second, I don't think I would be even remotely embarrassed. Actually, if that happened, I think I might just reach down and take one of both boy's hands in my own, allow my gaze to flicker over the crowd and give them a mysterious smile before striding straight past them, as if their presence didn't amount to anything.

This feeling was bliss. I felt like I was on top of the world. Nothing could destroy my good mood, and I could tell both boys could feel a definite change in my attitude. "Hikari, there you are! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Kei exclaimed as she spotted us, and began racing forwards, Ayumi following closely at her heels. Though Ayumi didn't stop as Kei did, instead she ploughed forward and wrapped me in a big bear hug, basically her usual greeting. My eyes instinctively passed over them, assessing the two for injuries. Luckily, I found no obvious ones.

"You have to see this!" Ayumi said as both she and Kei glanced backwards, at the scene over their shoulders. "Isn't it crazy?" I allowed my eyes to drift over, following their gazes to where a crowd of students were gathered, staring wide-eyed up at the ceiling which was cracked and splinted, parts of the plaster having fallen down and lay pushed up against the wall. "There were all these explosions, the entire school was in a panic. We had the fire and police departments here, it was totally chaotic!"

Ichii seemed to be the first person to recover from the shock, smirking slightly he shot a sideways glance towards the responsible party. "Zero, I think I need to talk to you."

Zero winced. I couldn't help myself, even though I attempted to, albeit rather lamely, stifle my giggles, I was unable to stop myself and stood there, clutching my sides and laughing loudly. "What are you laughing at?" Zero demanded, which only served to intensify my laughter. I couldn't control it and, actually, I didn't want to stop even if I could.

"You're really gunna be in some hot water later, Zero!" Zura said, and he too, was laughing.

"I'll put you in hot water!" Zero retaliated, while I allowed my hands to drift over my mouth, my eyes closing as I laughed and laughed and laughed. _It feels so good to laugh like this._

* * *

"I'm home!" I announced, carefully closing the front door behind me and kicking off my shoes, picking them up and sliding them onto the rack. My mother's were missing. "She must still be at work." I placed my bag on the table, removing my water bottle and the box which stored my bento and emptied the remains in the sink and bin respectively, before refilling the bottle and returning it to my bag and washing the box with foamy hot water, laying it across the draining rack and then lightly jogging into the living room.

Pinned up on the message board was a little note from my mum saying that she was working overtime and that she'd be back at around five. I could have some light snacks to tide me over until dinner, but I decided to pass on them. After the eventful day I'd just had, I doubt I could really stomach to eat too much. I put in a quick call to the local vets to check on Tabby and was glad to hear that she was recovering from her injury very well. When my mother returned I decided I should try to convince her to allow us to keep Tabby, which, in all honesty, shouldn't really be too hard. I'd spotted her feeding Tabby some fish on more than one occasion when she thought I wasn't looking. She seemed just as smitten with the little kitten as I did.

Raising both hands in the air, I yawned and stretched them up as far as they would go. I rubbed my shoulder as it sent a small jolt of pain across my limb and quickly took some paracetamol before lightly running up the stairs. I needed to change out of my uniform and take out the trash. Then there was the task of getting all my homework done. I flung open my door and promptly face-planted into the carpet as Ichii cheerily looked up from the table he and Zero were sitting at, casually sipping tea. "Good to see you home, Hikari."

"I-er- what're you- I... um... Wha... I... e-e-er..." I stammered, climbing unsteadily to my feet before I finally managed to conjure up the brain power to coherently string two words together. "What're you doing in my room?"

"Oh, well, starting today we decided me and Zero should live here with you." That statement left me gaping like a goldfish, while Ichii, not having noticed my comatose state, continued on as if he had not just dropped the bombshell of a life time. Instead, he laughed a little sheepishly and pulled back the door to my closet, displaying a quite a large room on the other side which I knew for a fact never used to be there. "Look, I extended this closet with some Magical Space and made a room for Zero and me. See? Now you'll never even know that we're around." I could tell that my unease was projected across my features. "We want to stay as close to you as possible, that way we can always be here to protect you."

"It's great! It'll just be like we're neighbours who share a wall." Zero enthused, seeming to be quite taken with the idea. I frowned, but secretly, I had always imagined having a set up like this. I thought it was pretty cool, in fact, me and my friends had all decided long ago that as soon as we were adults, we were going to have a house exactly like this, with all our walls connected so we could see each other whenever we wanted to. It was pretty ridiculous, really, now that we were older.

"We'll try to stay out of your way, but having us around could be pretty handy too." Zura said, as he floated idly next to Ichii's shoulder.

The three of them beamed brightly, obviously feeling as if they were complete geniuses. I was only really worried about my mother finding them. Now that would be awkward to explain. "We'll be here when you need us, so don't worry. Well, what do you think?" Ichii prompted gently.

"Oh and don't worry, we took all of your clothes out of the closet and put them in that room over there." Zero said, pointing over to the said room.

I twisted my hands nervously before finally voicing my opinion. "As... As long as you keep that door closed... then I guess... I guess it's okay. You're... Only doing this to keep me safe... So... I... Yeah, okay... Just don't come in my room before knocking, okay?" I could feel heat rise to my cheeks and buried my face in my hands as both boys easily agreed, as oblivious to my discomfort as usual.

 _This... This is going to take some time to get used to._

* * *

 **A/N: And that concludes my forth chapter! Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!** **It would really help me a lot if I could get some feedback on this, to know how I can and improve or what people like is really helpful xD**

 **A big thank you to LoveInuyasha22 who reviewed, favourited and followed this story,** **I really appreciate it!**


	5. Kiss? Baby? Lollipop? Part 1

I yawned deeply and pushed myself up into a comfortable sitting position, regarding my mattress cautiously as the bedsprings beneath me creaked suspiciously, before dismissing the matter and stretching out my arms above me. Blinking owlishly I allowed my observant blue orbs to scour the space, searching in every crevice, every nook and cranny for anything that looked at all unusual. To my relief, everything was exactly how it should be, and that one fact made me feel fairly satisfied that no intruder had entered my sanctuary at any time during the night. Yawning again, I arched my back in a very cat-like manner and instantly smiled. I had managed to convince my mum to let me keep Tabby. As soon as she was better, she would be coming home to live with us! The thought made me beam so brightly, I was sure it lit up my whole face.

Reaching my hand out, it sliced uselessly through the empty air for a moment. My movements, still sluggish from sleep, hindered me slightly as I attempted to locate my alarm clock, though I soon managed to slam my hand down, rather roughly, on the top and after a brief second of probing, I flipped the button to cease the awful ringing. Huddled underneath a great pile of blankets, all of which were tightly wrapped around my petite form, providing me with welcomed warmth, I hesitated to leave the nice, cosy shelter. Which was a dilemma, as I really needed to get dressed. I sat there for quite a while, as I did every morning, mentally preparing myself until I had summoned up the willpower to discard my blankets and step across the plush carpet to my closet, allowing the cool air to envelope me in a rather unpleasant hug.

Pausing to rub the sleep from my eyes, I sighed softly before lazily pulling open the closet door and raising my gaze to locate my uniform.

I froze.

Froze solid, as if I had suddenly been petrified by Medusa. Which, in that moment, wouldn't be too hard for me to believe. In fact, I wished for that exact fate, since it would surely avoid the embarrassment that was to follow. My mouth dropped open in utter shock as a bare-chested Ichii who had paused while treading a belt through his trousers, and Zero... In his underwear... Reaching for a shirt, glanced over at me, appearing to be just as- if not more- startled than myself. I suppose the only change that occurred in me was the rapid escalation of the colour of my cheeks, which shot up from a pleasant healthy glow to blood red quicker than one can blink.

"H-Hikari?" Zero's hesitant voice snapped me out of my comatose state and back to my senses, which had previously seemed to abandon me in favour of getting the hell out before I could make even more of a fool of myself.

"G-G-Gomen nasai!" The power of movement regained, the first thing I did was slam my hands over my eyes and then I spun harshly around though luckily I avoided inducing whiplash despite there being more than enough force in that movement to acquire it. Unluckily, however, I instead managed to smack my head against the door frame and that lack of grace had my toppling back onto my butt. Wincing, I allowed a brief moment for a small, pained gasp to escape my lips, before I collected myself and managed to awkwardly clamber to my feet, taking the first opportunity to actually sprint out of the room and purposely ignoring the hurried footsteps that followed.

"Wait, Hikari!" Zero whispered urgently, but it was too late, since I had already ran straight into my bed and was pitched head over heels. From what I could guess, a still practically naked Zero lunged forward and grabbed my ankles, thankfully preventing me from KO-ing myself on the floor, before hissing under his breath at Ichii, urging the older boy to hurry up and pull on his goddamn shirt so he could help.

I didn't struggle as the boys inched me back on to my feet. Nor did I remove my hands as Ichii lingered behind to gently ruffle my hair and inform me that he was going to retrieve my uniform, so I was to remain exactly where I was until he had returned.

I doubted that even the fact that I was once again wearing my pink kitten pyjamas could make that situation even more embarrassing than it already was.

* * *

Clutching my bag tightly in my hands, I continued to walk a few paces ahead of the boys, even if I was forced to jog every couple of steps just to do so, cursing my stature the entire time. In times like this, I couldn't help but feel short, despite my usually unwavering insistence that I was merely _fun-sized_ or _proportional._

Even after a short amount of time had passed, I was so embarrassed about my earlier intrusion that I seriously doubted I could ever face the two boys again. In fact, I had considered pulling a Houdini and walking to school alone to give myself a little more time to clear my head. I usually found that prolonging uncomfortable situations helped me to burn off my incessant worries and deal with it in a calm manner that derived from obsessive planning. To be perfectly honest, the high colour of my face still hadn't completely dissipated. My mother had even commented on it, though she was concerned that I was coming down with a fever.

 ** _Bad Thought:_** _They hate you now._

Shaking my head, I averted my attention in order to distract myself.

The sun, which was set high in the sky, toasted our backs with its delicious warmth, though the hint of the occasional cooling breeze that would sweep over thankfully provided some relief when the heat became a little too overbearing. The melodic chirping of the birds resting in nearby trees helped to slightly ease the tight ball of anxiety in my stomach. All in all, it was perfect. It was a shame the day hadn't started out that way.

"Jeez, it's not that big of a deal," Zero's exasperated voice rang out from behind me, though, mentally, I instantly disagreed with him and his nonchalance. "Why can't you just get used to the fact that we're your roommates now?"

"It... It is a big deal!" I exclaimed, as I mustered up the courage to face them, my locket swinging around in a wide arc from the sharpness of the movement. From the tingling of my skin, I could guess that my cheeks had immediately flushed once more, just from the mere sight of the two. By now, embarrassment seemed to be a default expression for me when I was around the two boys. "I am not comfortable with waking up in the morning and finding two half-naked boys in my closest!"

Ichii merely sighed as he stepped between us, hands held up in a peacemaking gesture. "I'm sorry, Hikari. We'll try to use more discretion in the future." It finally dawned on me that he always seemed to have the job of the mediator between us. My insides twisted with guilt. I was always making things difficult for him, and, grudgingly, by extension, I guess I was also a burden on poor Zero, too.

"But she barged in on us without even knocking!"

Zero's protest held an alarming amount of truth. I was, technically, in the wrong. Which had me lapsing into an even greater silence as I allowed my thoughts to consume me. Sure, I had been embarrassed walking in on them. But what about Zero and Ichii? In my swirling fit of emotions, I hadn't even bothered to think about how they must feel. They were, after all, the ones that had been exposed. It wound be fair to assume that the would be feeling even more awkward than me. And it amazed me how easily they could forget such a thing, dismiss it, as if it really wasn't important. Those two, despite my various moods, my flaws and terrible insecurities, had stuck with me through thick and thin. Sometimes Zero might complain, or make an insensitive remark and sometimes Ichii might be too protective, or over-look something he had assumed to be insignificant. But, if I really thought hard about it, that was exactly how friends worked. They support you in your darkest times, help you work past the negatives and together you are free. You are safe. You are happy.

And that dynamic remains unchanged even if the roles are reversed, as they know that you would pour just as much of your heart and soul into helping them, as they would for you.

So, taking all that in to account, I need to follow their example. To hold my head high, acknowledge my mistake and work past it. Nervously touching my index fingers together, I fixed the two with a gaze that remained steady, despite my hesitance. "I'm sorry... Back there, I forgot about everything. I never intended to walk in on you like that. And, I guess I was a teeny bit dramatic with my reaction. Thank you for not getting too annoyed at me."

"It's alight, Hikari. There's no damage done." His warm smile eased the tension is my body. "You know, we're only doing this because we need to be close enough to protect you." I nodded my head to convey my understanding of that sole fact.

"Remember, don't wander off again and stay close to us at all times." It appeared that Zero was just as cheerful as ever. "I won't let you out of my sight 'cuz I'm sick of you causing problems."

"Zero, that's impossible. We've got PE today and you know boys can't go to my PE class-"

The sudden, harsh movement of him spinning around had me stopping dead. "Either we go to PE with you, or you get attacked. Got it?"

My stuttered protests had him gritting his teeth, and after releasing a small growl, he marched on ahead. _Zero's really mad at me..._ Lack of focus had prevented me from realising the force in which I had been biting down on my lip. It was true, that despite our spats, I really did appreciate Zero and, from the bottom of my heart, I didn't want him to hate me. Ichii, bless his soul, had noticed my _inner-turmoil_ and, instead of pushing me, decided to instead wait patiently for me to pull myself together.

A loud wailing caught my attention. The two of us were standing next to a playground, and there, curled up on the floor, clutching her leg was a little girl, bawling as she started at the cut on her knee. Without taking the time to really think, I was already lightly running down the steps, and squeezing my way through the small crowd of children that surrounded her. "Ne, little one. Are you okay? What happened?"

"She fell." The oldest girl supplied, her brow creased with concern.

Tilting my head, I watched her with gentle orbs, a sympathetic smile displayed on my features. Due to my excessive clumsiness, I was all to familiar with this situation. Even now I was sure that not even a single day passed without a new band aid being issued, be that for a scraped knee, or an accident involving a scraped elbow, or cuts caused by slicing the skin on cans, or paper, or the edges of knives. Not only that, but bumps and abrasions from bumping my head against door frames, making me absently walking straight into a lamppost, or striking a limb on furniture. And even then, one would have to take account of my alarming habit of find anything and everything to trip over, be that due to my own feet, my bag, uneven pavement, loose laces, or, more often than not, thin air. It seemed I was quite talented in the area of accidental injury.

"Aw, you poor thing. You scraped your knee, huh? Does it sting?"

"A little bit." The girl managed to respond through her tears.

"Here, let me help you. I'll heal that up in no time, kay?" The girl was lighter than I expected, so lifting her up and carrying her over to the tap was an easy task, especially since she neither protested nor struggled at all. After carefully wiping away the dirt from the surrounding area, I thoroughly cleaned her wound, taking extra care to remove every single spec of grit.

Once completed, I took a moment to observe my impromptu first-aid. "There, that should stop it getting infected." Another thought struck me, and had me instantly burrowing into my pocket to locate one of the many band-aids I had stuffed in there. After applying it with the care and precision my mother had taught me, I grinned. It was one of my favourites, a little pink strip with an adorable cartoon bear. Sometimes my immaturity really got the best of me. "There we go, all better."

"Thank you so much! Now my knee doesn't even hurt any more!" The sight of that little girl beaming up at me was enough to make my heart melt like butter.

"That's great." I replied, enthusiastically, channelling my inner Zero and gently ruffling her hair. "Now, are you going to be okay?"

She nodded, her bauble hair ties jingling as she did so. "Yeah, I promise!"

"Just be sure to have it disinfected when you get to school." Another nod and one more grateful exclamation of thanks later, and she was off with her friends, running around with such joyful energy, I couldn't help but smile. "It's my pleasure, little girl." I called after her, giving her one final wave which she returned with her abundance of energy. "Just try to be more careful, you don't want to fall down and scrape your knee again."

"That was thoughtful of you." The voice, though warm and non-threatening, was unexpected, and startled me. Ichii had been so quiet this whole time, I'd completely forgotten he was here. "You have a very sweet disposition." Feeling uncertain of how exactly to reply, I smiled tentatively as I collected my bag and straightened myself up, smoothing out my skirt to hide the face that my cheeks were tinted a light shade of pink. He was smiling at me, but, for some reason, this one seemed different from all the previous ones. Warmer, brighter, it seemed to dance in his eyes and hold so much more meaning. "I think you're a very special person, Hikari."

For a moment, all I could do was stammer. I suppose I must have had a fairly enchanting expression of utter stupidity etched on to my face, though Ichii's expression didn't change in the slightest. When the line between my brain and mouth managed to reconnect, I sorely hoped that I could at least redeem myself and act like a half-way intelligent person for once. "Th-Thank you. I-" Our gaze locked, almost with an audible _click,_ and I noticed just how short a distance there was between us, and how Ichii's ochre orbs seemed to melt in the golden rays of the sun. "I think-"

"Hey! Snap out of it you two!"

It seemed like Zero, even with his remarkably short temper, could ever abandon us for long. "What are you doing? If we don't all get a move on then we're going to be late for school!" I chanced a small glance at Ichii and managed to catch the fleeting flash of fondness in his eyes. "Stop staring at each other and get over here right now. Let's go!"

"Hai!"

* * *

When we were faced with the immovable wall of squealing girls, my first thought was to back away and bail as quickly as I could. Too much attention, too little space, too much noise. Everything I was worried about, all packed into one tight, noisy, unpleasant package. So, when I merely collided with Zero and stumbled enough to have to grab his arm to steady myself, wasting my last precious seconds to escape, my worst nightmare became personified.

It seemed as though, for the most part, I was ignored. The girls were more interested in shooting all manner of questions at the poor boys, who didn't appear to be able to catch much in the relentless barrage of noise. Deciding to lend a hand, which always seemed to backfire on me, I summoned the courage to speak up. Well, stammer up, I guess. "I... Th-They don't- Please l-leave them-"

"Get out of here, Hikari!"

With that, I was ejected rather roughly for the middle of the group, coming to an unsteady halt at the feet of Kei and Ayumi, both of whom were wearing matching sympathetic expressions. "Those guys are always surrounded by a big group of girls, huh?" Kei commented, gently offering me her hand. I brushed off the dirt from my palm before accepting it and remained motionless as Ayumi easily removed the persistent stones clinging to my socks.

"Are you hurt?"

After taking a moment to inspect myself, I carefully shook my head. "I'm okay."

Ayumi hummed in acknowledgement and spared a glance towards the commotion. "You guys have all been the talk of the school lately." She said, thoughtfully. "So, I guess all the attention makes sense. And, they are pretty cute."

"Not planning on cheating on your boyfriend are you?"

She feigned a hurt expression as Kei nudged her in a playful manner, but replied in a serious voice. "I wouldn't dream of it. He's such a sweetheart, I would never do that to him." She pursed her lips together for a moment, and studied me intently. "Speaking of boyfriends, I've been wondering about your relationship with those two... Are you three going out?"

Startled, I took a step back as my cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "N-no!" I said, shaking my head so hard, it was a furious blur. "No, definitely not. They're just my friends!" Behind me, it seemed like Zero and Ichii had decided to forcibly remove themselves from the situation. And by that, I mean they just simply started running away. A chanced a glance at my friends and winced as I saw their identical smug expressions and raised eyebrows. Sighing, merely shot them a half-hearted glare. "I'm going to have to go deal with that. See you in class."

* * *

When the door was rather unexpectedly blasted straight off it's hinges and flew across the other side of the room, I, along with many of my classmates, couldn't help but scream. Though I suppose none of them were so startled that they reeled backwards and promptly acquainted themselves rather well with the floor. Zero face-palmed at my clumsiness before offered a hand to help me to my feet and when I did, I noticed what all the commotion was about.

Standing there in the centre of the room was a rather busty teenage girl.

"My darling! I've been looking everywhere and now I've found you!" I blinked in confusion as the girl began running down the isle towards us. Ichii seemed completely unfazed, but Zero looked as if he wanted to drive his head through the nearest wall. "How I missed you, Ichii! How about a kiss?" My jaw dropped open as she lifted herself on tiptoes, caught hold of his collar and kissed him. Right. On. The. Lips.

The rest of the class also appeared to be going through various stages of shock, though as the girl whipped their heads around to stare at me with fire burning in their eyes, I realised that they must have stumbled along the thought that I was the much needed solution to this new problem. "You have to do something, Hikari!"

Mind completely devoid of all intelligent retorts, all I could do was gasp uselessly for a couple of seconds until Ichii gently but insistently moved her by the shoulders so a barely acceptable distance was between them. "Rokka, what do you think you're doing?" The girl was staring lovingly into Ichii's eyes, and was no leaning against his chest, looking quite comfortable indeed. This intimacy only fuelled the rage from the female population even further. I, on the other hand, could see how Ichii wasn't exactly reciprocating her feelings, but common sense didn't seem to be one of their top priorities right now. "You're not alone, are you?"

"No." She said lightly, with a girlish giggle as she traced her finger along his chest in an idle, nonchalant motion that caused a brief flicker of uncertainty in Ichii's ochre orbs. "Gou is travelling with me."

He gave a microscopic sigh. "Why are you here?"

Nestling her head in the crook of his neck, she smiled happily and lowered her voice enough for only the three of us to hear. "To follow you into the human world, of course. We both became exaimnees for the final Sorcery Test so I could find you."

"Are you serious?" Zero hissed, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "You've got to be kidding me. This isn't some game, you know. This test is important and I won't let a stupid girl like you mess it up!" Rokka returned Zero's glare with an equally furious one of her own and ignored the tight fists balled up at his side as he struggled to reign in his rampant emotions.

"Lady Rokka." Startled, my gaze shifted to the young man crouched on the ledge of the open window. _Do any of these people actually know how to use a door?_ I supposed this was the aforementioned _Gou_ that was supposed to be accompanying her. "Long time no see, Ichii. I apologise, Lady Rokka was extremely excited to see you." He turned to address the girl in question. "We should be going now, Rokka. Ichii seems to be busy and it's not nice of you to bother him." _Why does he sound almost as if he's talking to a child? A little hesitant, but holding an authoritative edge... I suppose he could just be cautious of causing her to fly into a tantrum._

"No!" She protested. "Ichii doesn't mind. I can stay, can't I, Ichii, my love?"

The boy wisely chose not to immediately reply and blurt out something insensitive.

"Ne, Hikari. Who is this girl?" Ayumi had her arms crossed and was surveying Rokka with curious eyes. Kei looked somewhat disinterested, so I suppose she had just wandered over for the hell of it. "She's not Ichii's girlfriend, is she?" It seemed odd that she was so concerned, though when she turned sad, sympathetic eyes on me, I realised that her interest was not towards Ichii's availability for _her,_ but for _me._

"No. Not quite." Rokka's reply snapped me back to reality and helped distract me from the rising colour to my cheeks. The way she was beaming was enough for me to know that the next words out of her mouth would decimate almost half the class. "I'm actually his fiancée." I was right in my assumption. _Fiancée? I haven't heard anything about that before. Wouldn't Ichii have told me if he had a fiancée? ... Maybe he was too embarrassed to? That would be adorable. Ichii's usually so calm and collected, I can't even imagine him getting all flustered-_

"That isn't true." Gou's calm voice instantly derailed my train of thoughts.

"I hope not." Zero snorted and the glare he directed at the girl was laced with poison.

Ichii raised a warning eyebrow and hushed the younger boy, before hurriedly looking for a way to politely extract himself from the girl. Unfortunately for him, Rokka enveloped the boy in another crushing hug, knocking the poor boy off axis and causing him to grab the nearest desk to regain his balance. "Ne, Ichii, my love. Stop wasting your time with them." She lowered her voice once more, and tightened her embrace. "Let's hurry up and get back to the Magic World so we can get married and live happily ever after."

"Rokka!" The chiding note in his voice was very apparent. Evidently, it seemed even the ever patient Ichii was beginning to reach the end of his tether. The poor boy appeared to be quite exasperated by now. I averted my eyes as our gazes locked. The apologetic look he held in his eyes spelled disaster. _Please, don't say anything to me. This will not help to diffuse the situation at all. See sense! Don't speak!_ "I'm sorry about all this commotion, Hikari. I'll get them out of here as soon as I can."

My heart plummeted to my feet. I desperately hoped I wasn't as screwed as I felt I was. All I could manage to do was laugh nervously and wave my hands as if I was dismissing the entire matter. "It's not a big deal, really. Don't worry about it, Ichii."

Rokka, with fierce intensity smouldering in her eyes instantly snapped around and fixed with with the epitome of venomous glares. "And just what do you want? Are you making moves on my man? If so, you're in big trouble missy."

I flinched and took a step back, cheeks tinted a pleasant pink. "N-No." I said, while all I could think was how I walked in on him this morning. "I-It's not like that-"

"Leave her alone, Rokka." Ichii commanded, in a calm voice, which calmed the tight ball in my stomach. "She's an important person to me."

"Wait a minute... She's more important... Than me?" The whole matter seemed to have momentarily broken her as she collapsed on to her knees. Though, as my gaze flickered uncertainly up to the brunette, the girl was instantly back on her feet, a vein throbbing menacingly on her temple. "That's it! You better stay away from him! Do you hear me? He must be pitying you, there's no other explanation. There's no way he'd see anything in your flat chest!"

Colour rose to my cheeks as I quickly crossed my arms over my chest and averted my gaze to the other side of the room. There was no doubt I was lacking in that department, something that didn't seem to be a problem for her. I noticed that Hiro seemed utterly furious, but was completely baffled as to why. He usually was so goofy and cheerful, seeing him like that was a little worrying.

My embarrassment was enhanced even further as she continued to sing victoriously and strike a couple of poses that displayed her prominent bust. "No boobs! No boobs!"

Ichii slammed his hand down hard on a nearby desk, creating a loud bang which resonated throughout the whole, silencing every single person present. He looked fairly annoyed as he folded his arms and stood before me, protectively, fixing Rokka with a disapproving expression. "Stop it right now!" He ordered in a firm, authoritative voice. "I don't want you saying any more rude things to my friend. Do you understand?"

"But Ichii... She was... Trying to steal you from me!" Rokka promptly burst into tears, which had Zero rolling his eyes in utter contempt. "You belong to me, Ichii! Me alone. And I won't let anyone take you away from me, my love!" She buried her head in perfectly manicured hands as she continued to sob. "I just can't stand to be without you for even one moment longer!" And with that, she ran out of the room with Gou dutifully chasing after her. Though he quickly backed up and handed my sensei a check to cover the cost on the damages, bowed to the class and apologised for the disturbance, before he finally left.

Ichii raked his hand through his hair and frowned at the doorway. "What a mess. Rokka's completely infatuated with me and Gou, as he butler, carries out her every wish. This is going to be complicated. " He said, with monumental understatement. "I'm sorry about this Hikari, but I think you're in danger again." _Oh joy._ He must have seen my downcast expression, since he gently used his index finger to lift my chin and smiled softly at me. "But don't worry, okay? You have my word that we won't let any harm come to you."

Zero hastily nodded in agreement. "No matter what we're up against, we promise we'll protect you." It was endearing how determined he looked. "You're safe with us."

"Oh yeah," Ichii said, gently smacking his head. "It completely slipped my mind earlier, but-" After taking a secret glance around to make sure no-one was looking too closely, a lollipop materialised in his hand. Fairly big, with bright pink and yellow stripes, it looked pretty cute. "I got this for you."

"For me?" I echoed, a tentative smile creeping up my lips.

"Yeah," He nodded softly, orbs melting in an array of swirling rich ochre that seemed to emit a warmth that was almost tangible. "I thought it would fit your image. See? It's cute, just like you are."

I could distinctly feel the blush tingling at my cheeks as I carefully took the lollipop from him. "You... You think I'm cute?" Despite the fact that it wasn't the first time I'd been called cute by a boy- my father often used to say the very same thing, and in a rare moment of seriousness, Hiro had unexpectedly done so as well- but this time it seemed different somehow. Embarrassingly intimate, almost. For some reason, being called cute by Ichii was the highest compliment I had yet to receive.

"Of course. I think you're very cute, Hikari." My blush deepened at his words and I swear my heart almost missed a beat. _Whoa, calm down, Hikari. It's not a big deal. He's not declaring his undying love for you, so you're good for the moment. Just stop being a dork and answer him._

"Th-Thank you, I-Ichii."


	6. Kiss? Baby? Lollipop? Part 2

**A/N: I don't own Save me! Lollipop, all rights go to it's owners and producers etc. My cover image is a black and white picture of Hikari that I drew.**

* * *

Sighing, I slumped further across my desk and allowed my head to drop down onto my folded arms. For the past half an hour, I had been attempting to complete my homework, but I found myself irritatingly unable to concentrate. Every little noise, be that the rattle of my tightly latched window, the distant creaking of the house, or even, on more than one occasion, my own _breathing_ set me into a small flurry of panic.

 ** _Bad Thought:_** _There are too many of them. **Bad Thought:** They're going to find you. And catch you. And remove the pearl. Forcefully. **Worse Thought:** They could kill you. **Even Worse Thought:** And you'd leave your mother all alone._

I couldn't help but feel anxious.

After all, now there were _two_ sets of examinees after me. The prospect of having to face San and Forte still terrified me. They had attempted to kill me at least twice now, so I had more than enough reason to be wary of them. But Rokka and Gou? I didn't know what they were capable of, which only frightened me further. Just thinking about them lurking in the shadows had me one edge. For all I knew, they could be watching me through my window right now...

Feeling my heart leap into my throat, I instantly shot up and grabbed the window ledge as I tripped over the chair in my haste to close the blinds. The window was locked, I knew that for a fact. I'd already checked three times. Task completed, I released the breath I had been holding and leaned back to survey my room. It was dark now that the curtains were shielding it from the dying rays of evening light, but nothing had changed at all. The door was still closed, the desk hadn't moved, my bed was still in the correct position and there wasn't even a crack in the closest door.

On the spur of the moment, my mother had decided to quickly nip out to the pet store last minute and buy anything else she felt we might need for Tabby. After double checking that every inch on the house was securely locked, reminding me to go straight next door if there was a problem and to lock the door behind her, she left, leaving me all alone. To be honest, I probably should've gone with her. Sometimes she got so hyper, she'd lose herself. I didn't want her buying out the whole store, after all. Though, I had to avoid putting myself in situations where it would be awkward for Zero and Ichii to follow. Coincidentally running into them at a pet store when I'd already mentioned how they didn't own any animals wouldn't exactly be subtle.

Sighing once more, I summoned up my courage and padded over to the closest. Hesitating, I knocked as loud as I dared and only entered when I heard Ichii's faded voice instructing me to do so. Feeling a little nervous, I moved through the bedroom and peeked around the living room door. "I was wondering whether you guys waned some hot chocolate-" I trailed off when I noticed both boys nursing cups of warm goodness.

"Why don't you join us?" Ichii said, smiling warmly. He gently gave Zero a little nudge and the boy rolled his eyes before placing his cup on the table, sticking his tongue out at Ichii and heading towards the kitchen to make some for me. My protest was interrupted by Ichii insistently tapping the space next to him, indicating for me to sit. I hesitated for a brief moment, but after Zero's encouraging nod, I carefully did so, my hands twisting nervously in my lap.

Zero returned quickly and handed me a steaming mug displaying a cute design of hugging cartoon rabbits that I couldn't help but feel he picked out just for me.

"Thank you." I said quietly, before taking a small sip and wincing as the liquid scalded my lips. It was still far too hot to drink yet, so I quickly placed it down on the table. Zero merely nodded in acknowledgement as he settled down on my other side. Neither he or Ichii appeared to be bothered by the lack of space between us. I, on the other hand, was acutely aware of it, but was thankful for the distraction.

"I heard your other let you keep Tabby." Ichii said, and by the way the words tumbled from his mouth he'd evidently jumped on the first conversational topic that crossed his mind. It broke the awkward silence that had descended upon us, and, somehow, chatting about Tabby- about how excited I was that she was coming to live with me, and how the first thing I was going to do was play with her until I dropped dead from exhaustion- it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. It seemed like, as soon as we started, we couldn't stop and slowly, all my worries faded to nothing.

* * *

"No."

"But-"

"No!" I repeated firmly, crossing my arms over my chest. "Absolutely not. There is no way you are coming in to the girl's locker room with me!"

"But we can't let our guard down!" Zero protested, gesturing around in a wild motion that almost hit Ichii square in the face. Luckily the boy had the sense, and the quick reflexes, to dodge. From Zero's tone and hesitation, it was obvious he was unable to summon up a better argument on the spur of the moment. Which I was thankful for, since I was determined to win this battle. I certainly knew I wouldn't appreciate their presence. Not to mention all the other girls who would certainly be embarrassed. So, no. They were not following me this time. I supposed that if I got attacked, I would just have to deal with it on my own, like any reasonable, mature person would.

"I understand that. But you can't be in the same room as me! What about when I'm changing clothes?"

"Well that makes sense," Ichii said diplomatically, turning on his heels and heading towards the entrance for the boy's room. His swift interruption seemed to have surprised Zero just as much as it did me. "Come on, Zero."

He opened his mouth, though it seemed as though he hadn't prepared a clever argument and merely resorted to throwing me a dark look, as if his sudden lack of inspiration was my fault. Though, obviously, I had no control over his power to articulate things properly. "What? Are you serious?" Evidently, that was all he was capable of.

"Yes." Ichii nodded, to further confirm that fact. "See you later, Hikari. Be careful, okay? And call if you need us." With that, he continued on his way, throwing a small wave over his shoulder which I hastily returned. Zero hesitated for a moment, switching incredulous gazes from myself to the back of the retreating boy, before, spluttering protests, he chased after him.

 _Wow! Ichii's so mature and sweet._

Though, unfortunately, the smile and my dramatically improved mood disappeared almost instantly. I had spent so long arguing that, without my knowledge, my entire class had changed and already left. The room was completely empty. After a moment of pure disbelief, I snapped straight into a rapid-fire mode, changing so fast I must've been a blur. I didn't even spare a moment to wince at the loud clanging my inside shoes made when I threw them into the locker. Though, I took more care than I probably should've when tying my laces, since Kei policed me pretty harshly on that. She had good reason, though. Every time my laces were loose, I'd managed to trip over them. So, I suppose she was right to be wary.

Distracted with pulling my hair into what I deemed was a fairly neat ponytail, I bumped my locker door shut with my shoulder. Though I froze solid at an unfamiliar noise emanating from behind me. It sounded like... laughter? "You shouldn't let it bother you so much that you have small boobs." Releasing a small, startled cry, I whipped around, my leg sweeping in a wide, arching kick, exactly how Zero had taught me the night before. If he'd seen it, I was sure he'd be proud of how I executed that kick, despite the fact that it didn't connect due to Rokka being just out of it's range.

Narrowing my eyes, I allowed an annoyed scowl to take up my features as I carefully began edging towards the open door. I figured that if I could at least escape this confined room, I had a much better chance at defending myself. And, more importantly, making it to the gym to enlist the help of the boys. I just needed to buy time until I reached the corridor. "What exactly do you want? Ichii's not here, you know."

That seemed to amuse her. "I know that. I'm here to cast a transforming spell on you."

At that alarming announcement, my eyes widened significantly and I bolted straight for the open door. Unfortunately for me, it seemed like Rokka had expected that and nonchalantly kicked an abandoned bag into my path. I hit the ground hard, shoulder first and tumbled forward into a the most messy, ungraceful forward roll in existence. Let's just say my shoulder didn't exactly appreciate the collision. I was sure by now, it had stormed out on strike. So, as I was groaning, barely recovered enough to force myself to bear the soreness and crawl the remaining distance to the door, Rokka jabbed her staff towards me and cast the spell.

It was awful. A searing, slicing feeling that pulsated throughout my entire body. It was electric, setting my nerves alight with a flood agonising pain that curled toes, clenched fists and arched my back, involuntarily enticing a twisted, broken scream from my lips.

And then, all of a sudden, it stopped.

And I was left doubled over, determinedly forcing back hot, swollen tears, my choked gasps barely drawing in much needed oxygen.

One simply glance at the mirror was enough to see what she had done. I was no longer a petite, socially awkward twelve-year-old. Now, it looked as if I was just shy of my first birthday, which of course, was _ever_ so helpful. Two cherry red double orbs held my raven hair in pigtails and my blue eyes seemed almost preternaturally huge in this state, though I was relieved to find my locket ever faithfully hanging around my neck. That at least was enough to provide even a little comfort. Though, I had to admit that the, rather cute, pink hooded onesie, adorned with bunny ears and a tail was _different._

 _ **Bad Thought:** You're going to remain like this forever. _

My eyes narrowed dangerously up at the girl, though as I tried to convey my feelings in the eloquent wording which I am known for, I found that a stream of unintelligible blabbering replaced my colourful cursing.

"Not bad, huh?" Rokka's smug grin was enough to convince me that she was in fact the devil. "I thought you could use a little change. Good luck trying to steal _my_ Ichii away now. I told you that you didn't want to mess with me, didn't I? And now look what you've made me do. Understand this; I won't let you tear our love apart. Ichii is mine! So just back off and leave my man alone." I couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance at that. Ichii wasn't hers. He wasn't a possession to own. Something to collect and check off a long list. He was a human being and deserved to be respected.

Her expression softened. "Oh, I'm coming my love. Now we can be together and no one will stand in our way!" With that, she left.

Sighing, I sat back on my haunches and thoroughly examined my situation. There was definitely only one solution, aside from hunting down Rokka myself and forcing her to change me back, which I severely doubted I'd actually accomplish in this form. **_Reasonable Thought:_** _No. You just have to find Ichii. Surely he'll know how to help you._

 _I sure as hell wish she'd had the decency to make me just a tiny bit older. Being able to walk would surely be helpful right about now._

* * *

 _Scratch that. I wish I could walk AND talk._

It was inevitable that my Find-Zero-and-Ichii-Plan wasn't exactly running smoothly. I'd managed to trek right down to the landing between the first and second floor before I'd been discovered by the nurse. Thankfully, it seemed like for once, some deity was on my side. Having her office situated on the first floor saved me the daunting task of climbing down the remaining stairs, and placed me much closer to the gym. On the other hand, it also meant that I was now trapped. It wasn't as though she would just allow me to wander off on my own.

"So, how did you get here, little one?"

I almost baulked under her intense gaze. It was more than a little unnerving. Luckily, her gaze shifted to the door as two people abruptly entered. Ayumi, usually an incessant ball of energy, looked the exact opposite of cheerful. Her face was twisted with worry and she clutched my uniform tightly to her chest as she scanned the room. Kei, wasted no time in squeezing her way past to do exactly the same, the tightness around her eyes as pronounced as the grim line her lips were drawn in. "Excuse me. You haven't happened to see Asahina Hikari, have you? She's missing."

The nurse frowned, and slowly shook her head. "No, I don't think I have." She looked apologetic. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of much help."

 _Kei! Ayumi! Thank god, you're here! You need to look closely, okay? I'm here._

My frantic babbling had caught the attention of both my friends. For a brief moment, I thought I saw a spark of recognition from Kei. But my hopes were crushed as her expression hardened once more. "Jeez. I'm going crazy." She muttered, lazily running her fingers through her hair. Ayumi raised an inquiring eyebrow, so Kei quickly clarified. "That baby looks a lot like a young Hikari, doesn't it?"

That raised a ghost of a smile from the other girl. "You're right. Is she yours? She's pretty cute."

"She's not mine. I just found her in the hallway."

As Ayumi shifted her weight to her other foot, my lollipop slipped out from the fold of my uniform. My Sensei's booming voice helpfully concealed the noise of it clattering to the ground. After hearing that they had still failed to find me, the hopeful light in his eyes died instantly. There was a pause for intense thinking, before the idea of splitting up was proposed and immediately agreed to. Even the nurse had become compelled to help and followed closely behind my Sensei.

 _They noticed I was gone? It looks like I'll have to surprise them with grape juice and ice cream the next chance I get!_ I glanced towards the door, where my lollipop had been abandoned. _Ne... If I have my lollipop... Zero and Ichii would be able to recognise me!_

I thanked the Gods for my amazing luck, and despite the fact that I my decent from the bed involved me landing ungracefully on my butt, I felt more relieved than I had all day.

* * *

Taking a deep breath to steady my shaky breaths, I allowed myself a moment to rest and squinted against the sharp glare of the sun. Two boys stood out in the mass of people. Blue hair. The other brunette. For a moment, I mistakenly believed that my eyes were playing tricks on me. But when they defied my expectations and remained, instead of disappearing before my very eyes, a delighted squeal rose from deep inside my chest.

It was masked by Rokka's enormous scream. There mere sight of me crawling over horrified her and after assuring an exasperated Ichii that everything was essentially perfect, and with speed I wasn't aware that she possessed, Rokka had hurtled over and hauled me up by the arm, dragging me out of sight and dumping me in with the gym equipment.

Which is exactly when I decided, politeness be damned, that the next time she made the mistake of getting too close, I was biting her. If she was going to transform me into a baby, then I'll damn well act like one. As soon as she went racing back, I followed. If she thought I was going to sit back and sulk, she was sorely mistaken. I was almost certain we'd been through that little charade at least four times by now. Me attempting to reach the boys, her stopping me and going back. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It was getting incredibly irksome.

Apparently, Rokka thought so, too. "Why can't you just stay quiet, you little brat?"

"What are you doing in here, Rokka?" Rokka, the Queen of Discretion, shrieked and jumped almost six feet in the air. Her attempts to act nonchalant as she used her body to block me only seemed to pique the interests of the two boys even further. Since I had spent the last hour and half crawling around on the baking pavement and earning myself a great collecting of blisters and bruises, I decided it was about time that I had a chance to derail her plans. Starting from now, I was going to become her worst nightmare. So, in accordance with my plans of sweet revenge, I threw back my head and wailed as loud as I could. "Is that a baby behind you?" Zero's voice switched from confusion to suspicion in the blink of an eye.

 _Captain Obvious strikes again. Why don't you get here so I can reward that great achievement with a gold freaking star._

"Absolutely not." Ichii raised a challenging eyebrow. He at least was displaying a good deal of intelligence. Taking three steps to the side earned him the perfect view of me, and a visible flinch from the girl. "Oh, you mean this baby?" She laughed nervously and scooped me up into her arms, much to my disgust. Instead, I satisfied myself with being the most unhelpful child in the world, screeching and struggling as much as this tiny form would allow me to. "I found this adorable little girl wandering around outside and I was just about to take her to the teachers so they can help her find her parents when you walked in and interrupted me."

Neither boy looked very convinced. Zero was studying me so intently that I played my last card and desperately waved the lollipop around, hoping that he'd recognise it.

Without warning, Gou sprang out from underneath the equipment I had previously been stationed on. Honestly, I didn't even have the energy left to question how exactly that was possible. "Hold it right there, Lady Rokka. The finder is saying that the Crystal Pearl is inside that baby!"

"What?" Zero exclaimed, his expression one of absolute horror as he examined me. "That means... That's Hikari? What did you to her?"

"Now it all makes perfect sense. You must've swallowed the Crystal Pearl on accident or something. That must be the reason why Ichii said you were an important person to him earlier... The only reason he's protecting you, is because you've got the Pearl. Without that, you're useless!" I winced. Her grip was suffocating. "So, Ichii, my love... If I take her to the Magic World, will you come back and live with me forever?" The question, and her sweet smile, apparently caught the boy off guard. Though, as she nodded to Gou, he quickly collected himself. "You know what to do. Now!"

"As you wish, Lady Rokka." He bowed respectfully, before initiating his Phantom Magic: The Child's room. The bright light was blinding and forced me to shield my eyes. All of a sudden, a sense of complete weightlessness took over my body, which tugged heavily at my navel, causing my stomach to drop in response. Somehow, it was both sickening and exhilarating at exactly the same time.

All at once, I was on the ground once more. It was soft and squishy beneath my hands, unfamiliar to the texture of the cold school pavement. It certainly was a child's room. A huge one, at that. Everything seemed to be disproportionate, distorted in an unnerving manner. Not to mention the fact that the entire room was filled with identical copies of myself, all crawling towards Zero and Ichii, both who looked fairly shocked. _This is hopeless! If I don't do something to stand out, they'll never find me!_

"It's up to you, Ichii." Gou's voice echoed eerily, sending unpleasant shivers up my spine. "If you can pick the real Hikari out of all these multitude of impostors then you win and we'll withdraw quietly for today. But if you can't find her, then we'll take her away and you'll never see her again. So if you really do care about Hikari, not just the Pearl, the you shouldn't really have a problem picking her out of a crowd, right?" He chuckled ominously. "Happy hunting, Ichii and Zero. Good luck to you both."

 _ **Bad Thought:** They'll never find you._

I gritted my teeth.

 _ **Rea**_ _ **sonable Thought:** They'll try their damn hardest._

Zero seemed to be thinking the exact same thing. "Which one is the real Hikari?" He looked awkward as he carefully picked his way between the wriggling babies, eyes scanning each one with hawk-like precision. "There are so many! It's impossible. We'll never be able to find her at this rate!" I couldn't help but agree. But, since I noticed that all the fakes seemed to be congregating around the boys, I decided to instead move into the space. After all there wasn't anything wrong with giving them helping hand, now, was there?

"Oh no!" Zura's little voice caught my attention. He was flying around, using sharp eyes to inspect the fakes. They paid no attention to him, instead, they remained focused on Ichii. It seemed like a good idea, until I noticed a dark shape slowly edging towards him. "I can't tell which one is her." He released a startled scream as one of the giant animals came to life and carelessly batted him aside, straight up and into the wall of the room. His flight abruptly halted, Zura crashed down to the floor, lifeless.

My heart leaped into my throat. _Zura! No!_

Red hot anger flushed my cheeks. The bear was advancing on him, movements slow, disjointed and robotic. I dismissed my initial fears in favour of being absolutely apoplectic with rage. Right now, it didn't matter to me whether or not Ichii and Zero could spot me. All I was focused on was getting to Zura, and despite the fact that he was stirring, my concern never faded for a second.

"G-Get away, zura. G-Get away from me!" Deaf to his cries, the bear continued forward. Alarm flickered across the faces of both the boys as they expertly manoeuvred their way around the mass of squirming children. "Please, don't come any close- Ah!" As the bear prepared to punch him flat, I threw my arms out wide, using my whole body as a shield to protect the helpless seahorse. The utter fury that had been amassing hit a crescendo and exploded outwards in the form of a tremendous roar. Yeah, there was no doubt at all. I was _pissed._

"Zero, get the bear!" Ichii had already surrounded the two of us in one of his defence capsules.

"My pleasure." Despite the fact that Zero's face was shrouded in darkness, it was easy enough to see the smouldering gleam burning deep in his eyes. The boy wasted no time in utterly decimating the bear with a blast of his Magic Cannon that was so powerful, it left clumps of soft stuffing scattered everywhere. The boy certainly hadn't been playing around. Though the dark expression that had been marring his features very quickly morphed into one of relief at the sight of myself and Zura, both relatively unharmed, being carried back down towards him.

"Don't worry, Hikari." Ichii's smile was so warm, it was almost tangible. "We've got you now. You're safe." His words eased the tight ball of tension that had been winding in my stomach and with that, I tumbled forward and landed straight in his arms, gripping his shirt with my tiny fists. "I gotcha." His voice, which was brimming with such sweetness, and the gentle way he cradled me was enough to trigger the rising tears. And Ichii, sweet, kind, precious Ichii only pulled me closer as I cried, his hand carefully stroking my raven locks in an attempt to calm shaking sobs.

"Keep your promise." Zero ordered, a certain sharpness to his tone. "We've found the real Hikari. Now let us go."

Gou conceded. "That was the deal. You've won the game, so we won't take the girl away from you, I just hope you've saved some luck for the next time."

At first, I was completely unaware of three things. One, that we had been returned to the equipment room. Two, That I had been returned to me normal age. And three, that all eyes were on me, my head still nestled against Ichii's chest as I struggled to reign in my emotions. The boy in question, however, didn't seem to bothered. After a few more seconds, I realised that my feet were touching the ground. That alone was the thing that made me back up so I could take a better look at myself. The shock must have been evident, since Ichii appeared to be fairly amused as he used his thumb to wipe away any lingering tears from my cheeks.

"Wh-Why are you helping that girl, Ichii? I'm a much, much better woman than she'll ever be! I can't leave now. Not when that annoying little girl is trying to steal my Ichii away from me. I just won't stand for it! Transform Magic: Magical Forge!"

Fear had rooted me to the spot. The toy rabbit materialised so quickly, I was left with no time to react. I couldn't save myself as it swung it's arm downwards in what would be a bone-shattering punch. The only thing I could do was close my eyes tight and hope it ended fast. Only, after several tense seconds, I realised that it never had a chance to connect. My lollipop, my precious, treasured possession had protected me. At the very last moment, it emitted one of Ichii's defensive shields, which absorbed the impact from the blow and seemed to repel it straight back, causing the rabbit to explode and keeping me safe from harm.

"I-Ichii?"

Rokka was stunned, to say the least. I wasn't sure I looked much better. I had expected to go flying into the wall and shipped straight to the emergency room, not to be barely standing on trembling legs that looked vaguely reminiscent of Jell-O. Aside from possibly having my heart skip a beat, I was relatively unscathed. And at the moment, that fact was a little hard to get my head around.

Ichii smiled remained gentle, despite him carefully wrapping his arm around my shoulders and giving a reassuring squeeze. It was a welcomed presence, nevertheless. "I cast a Defence Magic spell of Hikari's lollipop. It's set up so it'll activate any time she's in trouble." He switched a slightly sheepish gaze to me as I returned a grateful smile. "Sorry, I guess I should've told you that right from the beginning. We could've avoided this whole mess altogether."

"Why? Why do you care so much? Why won't you come back home and marry me?"

"I've already explained, haven't I? Hikari is an important person to me. I've sworn to protect her, Rokka, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. So, please, don't try to hurt her again." His words caused my cheeks to flush bright pink, though they induced tears for the other girl. "You understand, right? I can't go back to the Magic World right now. I have to stay here and make my dream come true. "

This news seemed to have upset Rokka even more than she already was. "I see." Her voice was cold. "So that's how it is. I hope you know that you're breaking my heart!" And with a small burst of light, the busty teenager was replaced by a little girl, who promptly turned and buried her head into Gou's stomach. The butler didn't seem fazed by this, he merely just patted her head.

"She's really a little girl?"

"That's right." Ichii confirmed, with an amused smile. "Lady Rokka here is really only five years old." Which of course explained everything. Why Ichii wasn't fazed when she kissed him. Why he tried to remained gentle and understanding even when she was throwing a tantrum, and threatening the lives of his friends. "I'm sorry Rokka." And all the while, I noticed that Zero was staring at me, his expression soft. The smile he displayed was not his usual endearingly confident, or teasing smile, but a warmer, kinder one, similar to what I would expect from Ichii. I returned one that I hoped was just a bright and pleasant as his.

"Now, now, we really should get back." Gou's voice was equally gentle as he carefully lifted up the small girl, despite her frantic struggling. "if you'd like, I'll make you some of your favourite stew to cheer you up."

"I'm not going to give up, Hikari! I will separate you from my Ichii!" And with her last piercing cries, they disappeared.

"Finally." Zero said, his arms folded across his chest. "I was about to poison the tea."

"Sweet girlfriend, Ichii." Zura teased, which made us all laugh. And it felt good to laugh. It felt whole, and precious, and safe.

* * *

"Hey, Ichii? Mind if I ask you something?"

For a moment, the boy ceased all movement. He regarded me curiously, before continuing to carefully remove the band from my hair, allowing the waves to cascade down my back. "Of course. What's troubling you?"

"How exactly did you know which baby was the real me?" While the thought hadn't actually been bothering me, it had crossed my mind a couple of times. And, well, with all the craziness that had been going on, I felt like I had the right to indulge in my curiosity just this once. "I mean, Kei and Ayumi did think I looked familiar, but they never realised it completely and they've know me for much longer than you have."

"That was easy."

The boy's simply shrug merely confirmed his words. I followed his gaze across the playground, the very same one where I had helped that girl not too long ago. "None of the fakes retained your personality. The moment you tried to protect Zura, I knew it was you. Because, while there were many babies that looked just like you... You were the only who tried to save him." He lightly pinched my cheek. "You're really sweet, Hikari. A very special special girl." His smile was more than enough to melt my insides.

"What are you two doing?" Zero's voice interrupted the transformation of my legs to goo. I'd have to find a way to discretely thank him for that later. "Come on! I'm hungry and tired of waiting on you!" He looked so exasperated, waving his arms around so wildly that he almost hit himself in the face with his bag.

"He's right. Ready to go?"

I nodded and we jogged to catch up.

"Ne, Zero. My mum took another night shift. I say we splurge and order take out!" Zero obvious ecstasy was adorable. He jumped up, pumping the air in celebration, already chatting at a hundred miles a minute. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of him.

 _These two are hands down two of the best friends a girl could ever have._

* * *

 **A/N: And that concludes this chapter! Thank you all for reading, I hope you enjoyed it!** **It would really help me a lot if I could get some feedback on this, to know how I can and improve or what people like is really helpful xD**


	7. The Exciting Hot Spring, Part 1

_I am glad that mum agreed to go off on that weekend retreat. She's been working so hard lately, she really does deserve to treat herself for once! Though, I suppose it's strange without her here. I mean, I've never done the shopping on my own before._

Almost tripping over my own two feet, I released a small, startled cry and came to a sudden, jolting halt to avoid crashing into the towering shelves. Deciding that death by supermarket shelves was really not the way I wanted to go, I instead remained stationary as I allowed my eyes to scan through my list once again. "Let's see... I've got the eggs, milk and rice... Miso Soup and Wasabi, too. All that's left is some sugar and a couple of tins of cat food for Tabby..." Trailing off, I made a quick sweep of my surroundings to check for any of the stated things.

"There's the sugar." I mused under my breath, spying the familiar bag situated on one of the higher shelves opposite me. Faltering slightly, I narrowed my eyes and gazed upwards, attempting to gauge the considerable distance between myself and the sugar. Of course, I just ploughed on, ignoring the hindering factor of my height, and all the flashing neon signs warning me against that action. _I mean... I can't be_ that _short, right?_

Evidently, I could.

It seemed as though, no matter how far I stretched my arm up, I couldn't get any closer than an inch away from the bag, which by now, was almost taunting me. Despite that, I refused to stop. "Come on... I can nearly reach it. It's just a little further-" I pushed myself up on tiptoes, grasping a suitable hand hold when I wobbled unexpectedly. "Why do they have to make these shelves so tall?" I whined, switching tactics and balancing on one leg, which seemed to help, if only by a little. _It would be so embarrassing if I had to ask for help!_ Sighing heavily, I paused, rocking back on my heels and wondering whether it would be acceptable for me to stand on the cart. That would certainly give me a much needed boost.

"I wish I were taller."

No sooner had the words left my mouth, a hand had easily reached up, over my head, and effortlessly pulled the sugar down. Eyes flashing dangerously, I whipped around, my cheeks flushed with fury. I was fully prepared to confront whoever dared to do such a thing, when I had been so obviously struggling to get the sugar for myself. Though, my expression instantly softened at the sight of Ichii, a kind smile in place as he offered me the bag. "Need this?"

"Yes." I said quietly, secretly wondering for how long Ichii had been following me for. He gently passed me the bag, and, feeling embarrassingly shy, I averted my eyes to the ground when his hand lingered over mine, just a touch longer than necessary. "Thank you."

"What else?"

I hurriedly busied myself with staring intently at the list. It was a much needed distraction to mask the rising colour to my cheeks. "Well... I guess cat food is the only thing left-" My attention was caught by Zero, who had commandeered the cart and was proceeding bury the items I had managed to gather so far under a mountain of junk food. "Zero..." It didn't seem like I was the only one that was shocked, Ichii's incredulous gaze was almost tangible. "What on Earth are you doing?" At the question, the boy angled his head to me and simply frowned. Evidently, he thought it was pretty self-explanatory and I suppose, he was right. "I mean... Can you afford all of that?"

As if on cue, an announcement began. "Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for your patience. I'm pleased to announce that our one time only sale begins right now!" I pretended not to notice Zero smirking at me. Instead, I put all my focus on the man, standing on a pedestal and speaking through a megaphone, clutching a plain cotton bag in his free hand. "Here's the deal; stuff this bag with as much merchandise as you can, and it'll only cost you just ¥300."

Ichii, with calm swiftness, gently took hold of my upper arm and nonchalantly manoeuvred both himself and me to the side in a few collected steps, so that our backs were lightly pressed up against the shelves, a considerable distance away from the mass incoming throng of rabid shoppers pouring into the shop. "Amazing," Zero said, watching the commotion at the front of the store with interest. He, too, had hurriedly vacated the area, lest he got swept up in the furious stampede. Thankfully he had the sense to take the cart with him. Somehow, I didn't think it would be to difficult for it have been trampled if left behind. "This store was all but empty until he made his announcement."

"It must be magic." Ichii agreed, nodding his head thoughtfully.

I barely managed to resist the intense urge to face-palm. After making my way over to Zero, or more specifically, the cart he had with him, I began burrowing for all the items on my list that had been buried by Zero's... _Helpful additions._ Once I'd managed to salvage everything, Ichii waded in to provide assistance, easily splitting the pile in two, nonchalantly tucking his half under one arm. "So, are you guys ready to go?"

* * *

"I still can't believe you bought all of that, Zero." I said, my crossed arms securing the bag tightly to my chest as the three of us exited the store, basking in the warm afternoon sun. "Do you really think you can eat that much?"

"Of course," Zero replied, with a confident tip of his head.

"Well, I guess it's thanks you you we have these coupons for the shopping arcade. We should enter the raffle on the way home." I carefully burrowed into my bag to locate the coupons, which I promptly pulled out in order to scan them more thoroughly. Ichii, my ever faithful protector, used a light grip on my upper arm to guide me out of the path of incoming obstructions. "Oh, wow. The first place prize is a deluxe trip to the hot springs!"

"Sweet!" Zero exclaimed, leaning heavily over my shoulder to get a better look. He was chewing one of the peppermint candies he was addicted to. "Let's go pick up the spa package."

I barely managed to subdue the wide grin threatening to take up my features. _He's pretty adorable when he says stuff like that._ "You don't pick it up, Zero. You enter the raffle for _a chance_ to win the prize. I guess you shouldn't get your hopes up. The chances of us actually winning it are pretty slim, we'll be lucky to even get third place." _It would be fun if we won, though. Then I wouldn't have to return to an empty house... I doubt the boys would invade my privacy too much, and I'd be too awkward to keep disturbing them... It's going to be lonely with just me and Tabby..._

Ichii, seemed to have sensed my sudden negative attitude, he was really surprisingly perceptive it was so incredibly difficult to hide things from him, and had easily remembered the last item that I needed to acquire, which, admittedly, I had forgotten completely in all the commotion. He spotted something across the other side of the street, gently captured my hand in his, and, after checking to make sure the coast was clear, insistently tugged me across the empty road. Zero was apparently as equally perplexed as me and followed closely behind, looking similar to a little lost puppy. Ichii didn't hesitate upon reaching the door, he swiftly entered and held it open for both myself and Zero.

It took me a moment, in which my eyes widened dramatically, to see exactly where he had brought us. "I'll go grab that cat food. You can have a little wander around." I was practically trembling with excitement as I glanced towards the boys to confirm whether this was actually okay. Zero had his arms crossed and was smirking at me, apparently amused by my reaction. "Well? What are you waiting for?"

It wasn't necessary for Ichii to prompt me any further. After Zero commandeered my bag, I was already skipping forwards, feeling lighter than air, with the said boy following closely at my shoulder. He didn't look too interested as I raised myself on tiptoes to gain a better view over the glass partition, at the adorable rabbits huddled inside. I almost melted at the sight of them, and desperately wished I were able to bring one home with me.

"So cute!"

* * *

It took quite a while and a fair amount of bribes for the boys to finally pry me from the shop, specifically as I was far too distracted with drooling over the playful little kittens to pay much attention to them. I was a little disheartened to leave, though the boys, being amazing as they are, quickly raised my spirits as we headed towards the raffle station on the way home.

"Ne, ne. You're walking a little fast there."

Both Zero and Ichii appeared to be a little startled as they glanced back towards me. Evidently, they hadn't even realised that I was struggling to keep up. So much for Ichii being perceptive. Unfortunately, this was just one of the many troubles being short caused. I was forced to take at least two steps for every one of theirs. I had been jogging every couple of paces just to stay at their side, but after a little while, it became fairly tiring, and I lost all motivation to continue with the endeavour.

"Can your widdle legs not keep up?" The smirk Zero sported was Wicked-Witch-of-The-West evil.

"Watch it. I am _fun-sized._ "

Of course, Zero didn't watch it. In fact, it amused him so much that didn't drop the matter for the entire journey.

When we finally reached the stall, we gathered around, me bouncing with anticipation while we waited to see whether we had won anything. Both boys were equally as interested, though Ichii was far more controlled with his reaction. Zero, on the other hand, looked like he was about to explode with impatience. "We have a winner! The first place prize has been taken; You've won a free trip to Haruyama hot springs!"

I blinked exactly three times before I had fully registered exactly what had just happened. But, even then, I didn't quite believe my ears. " _What did you just say?"_

* * *

I allowed a moment to stretch my arms out above my head, before settling back down on my bed with a small sigh and gently stroking the soft, silvery fur over Tabby's delicate ears. "Why'd we have to win this trip on the weekend that mum was out of town? Ayumi and Kei are both having fun with their own families, I wouldn't want to disturb them." Tabby licked my index finger with her little pink tongue, and I took that as a sign she agreed with me. "Maybe I can just go to the spa alone?"

She gave an indignant meow and pawed at my cheek. While this action was likely her demanding me to commence my fussing over her once more, I didn't heed it much, though as she persistently nudged my hand, I giggled and stroked her. "Of course I'd take you with me, you silly little kitty." I assured, gently scooping her up. She didn't complained and merely curled up on my stomach, her head resting on my chest, staring deep into my eyes, her whole body seeming to tremble as she purred. "You're a good kitty. You know that, Tabby?"

"Hikari," I carefully angled my head to enable me to glance over to the two boys without dislodging the kitten. My attention was instantly drawn to the bags that were resting against their feet. "Ta-Dah!" Zero declared, spreading his arms out in a manner that I suppose I was meant to praise, if I hadn't been so befuddled by it.

"Anoooo... What are you two doing?"

My question seemed to have induced a face fault for both boys, who were left momentarily speechless. Zero, as expected, recovered first and decided to explain. Which, wasn't exactly the best idea, since he lacked a fair amount of tact. "We're packing ready to go to the hot springs. Doy!" His shouting only succeeded in frightening Tabby and inducing a scowl from me, as I attempted to calm the poor kitten.

"Oh."

Ichii edged closer, kneeling by the side of my bed and carefully extending his fingers towards the kitten, who had her back arched and was hissing furiously at Zero. She hesitated, before cautiously padding closer, giving him an experimental sniff, before licking him. "It'll be fun, Hikari. I promise." Ichii shot me a wink that was powerful enough to stop a girls heart, as he continued to soothe Tabby with gentle strokes. I knew for a fact that my face had gone pink from the tell-tale tingling of my cheeks, and promptly ducked my head in an attempt to conceal the blush behind a veil of hair.

"You want us all to go together?" Apparently, I'd asked another stupid question, as Zero actually hit the floor this time. Though, rather than acting like a normal person and getting back up, he only empathised his pain by repeatedly hitting his head against the carpet, muttering under his breath as he did so. "Uh... Zero?" Upon receiving no answer, I switched an uncertain gaze to Ichii, who was now perched on the edge of my bed. He looked nonplussed, to say the least, but continued to pet Tabby, who had clambered into his lamp and settled down in a position that gave her a good vantage point of the entire room. "Did I break him?"

Evidently, Ichii was just as clueless as me, for the only reply he could give was a confused shrug. He then politely commandeered my pillow to use as ammunition and not-so-politely threw it at Zero's head, which fulfilled its purpose as it gained the expected reaction and effortlessly stopped Zero's little episode in the process.

"What the heck was that for?" He demanded, launching it clumsily back at Ichii. His aim failed quite spectacularly, though, and the pillow sailed straight through the air, closing in on my face. Though, Ichii, bless his kind soul, did try to catch the pillow, it slipped right through his fingers as he dived towards it, unseating Tabby in the process, and as he slammed into the ground, the pillow hit my face, catapulting me backwards so powerfully that I promptly flipped off the side of the bed, falling out of sight.

In an instant both boys were leaning over the bed to assess my condition, Zero spluttering apologises, while Ichii gently pulled me back to my feet and settled me on the bed, expertly checking for any injuries I may have sustained from my unexpected tumble. I was fairly certain that I almost scared poor Ichii to death when I suddenly burst out laughing. And once I had, I couldn't stop. Soon, both boys had abandoned their concern and were laughing, too.

"Can we go with you?" Zero asked, quietly, once the laughter had subsided. "To the hot spring? All of us... together?"

I smiled brightly, and pretended to think for a long moment, lightly tapping my finger against my chin as I did so. "Hmm... Lets see... I guess I _could_ let you come, but... Only if you help me pack."

That settled it. After a couple of loud complaints from Zura, it was easily agreed that he would also accompany us. And, true to their word, the boys did pitch in, despite the fact that I had been joking. I discarded an empty duffel bag in their general direction, explained exactly what they needed to gather for it, and they set off. Of course, that didn't mean that they didn't mess around. Though, their playfulness brought an easy smile to my face. They returned very quickly, juggling everything in their arms. Two towels, some toiletries, medicine and plasters, some packaged food, a couple of good books, a small umbrella and a spare pair of shoes wrapped in a plastic bag.

I packed some clothes in the bag, transferred the books to my backpack, and added my torch, phone, keys and a spare fluffy jumper, in there as well. And, much sooner than I thought, we were done.

* * *

To get there, we had to take a couple of trains.

I liked trains. I liked how fast they were. How, when they whooshed past, all the wind whipped in your face. I remember, when I was younger and times were simpler, that I would always turn to my parents whenever this happened, hair askew, eyes wide and lit with wonder, a certain rosy glow to my cheeks as I grinned. I would be so excited, I could barely stand still. Though, they didn't seem to mind at all that I would be bouncing and skipping all over the place. To be honest, I wasn't really sure why I had such a love of trains. I suppose it was because of all the fond memories they carried. I used to travel on them all the time with my parents during our holidays. Normally, we'd manage to snag and seat, and dad would sit across from us, and laugh his warm, booming laugh, lean forwards and ruffle my hair as I sat with my nose almost touching the window, watching the scenery fly past.

 _I miss those times so much... Before, I would always wish that I could just have one more day like that. But, now... Now I know that making new, exciting memories with new people is what really counts._

This time, travelling with Ichii and Zero, were we unlucky. Though we valiantly searched all up and down our compartment, it was to no avail. There were just no empty seats left.  
I couldn't help but stumble as the train jerked into motion. Before, I'd never really been standing unassisted when the train had began moving, so the new, unexpected feeling roughly threw me off axis and unto Zero, who thankfully caught me without complaint. While I couldn't see his expression, I could only imagine the look of awkwardness he must have been wearing as he gentle guided me back up into a suitable standing position. After assuring that I was balanced, both boys easily reached up and grabbed hold on the handles, with me quickly following suit.

Only, I didn't.

Because I couldn't reach.

My struggle had already attracted Ichii's attention, though the boy was at least attempting to play it smooth and pretend like he hadn't noticed me awkwardly shifting my weight from side-to-side, longingly staring up as I discretely stretched to try and reach. Ichii threw a short, commanding look at Zero, who rolled his eyes and pointedly looked away. I noticed that the bluenette was watching us out of the corner of his eye as Ichii lent in, a kind smile gracing his lips. "Can you reach?" He asked, his quiet voice just as gentle as his smile. I could feel the colour flooding my cheeks as I slowly shook my head, averting my eyes as I did so. His index finger gently raised my chin up, to meet with his warm, ochre eyes. "Grab my arm. It'll keep you steady."

I didn't hesitate.

I caught him around the inward curve, right above his elbow, practically snuggling right up to Ichii's side. At that moment, being that close with the brunette wasn't something I was particularly bothered about. On the other hand, falling over in a cramped compartment would've caused me to die from embarrassment.

Zero, apparently decided that it was safe enough to glance back over at us. He smirked wickedly, but the instantly he tried to open his mouth to tease me; he stopped. And focused on something just above my head, probably Ichii's face, and promptly pouted and looked away, seemingly quite put out. I could only conclude that Ichii must've pulled an expression so fierce it stopped _Zero_ right in his tracks and made the younger boy back off. The thought of him protecting me like that gave me a warm, fuzzy glow inside.

"Are you feeling better now?" His voice was soft and breath tickled my ear as he stooped low enough so only I could hear.

I beamed at him, and nodded my head.

 _Yes. I'm most definitely feeling a whole lot better._

* * *

"Wow!" I exclaimed, captivated by the towering building. It was incredibly pretty, looking both modern and quaintly old-fashioned at the same time, which only seemed to add to its charm. The scenery was embodiment beautiful, looking picture perfect, and in the background, I could hear the faint, melodic tweeting of birds. "It's awesome!" _This trip is going to be so much fun. I can't believe that I even considered going by myself. How stupid would that have been?_

"Amazing," Ichii breathed, eyes wide in awe as he turned in a full circling, drinking in all the wondrous sights around him. Ichii was usually fairly reserved, but, seeing him standing their with that spellbound expression, he did look incredibly adorable. "Just look at this place, you guys."

"I wonder what kind of food they've got," Zero said, lazily rubbing the back of his neck as he yawned. "Riding all those trains made me work up an appetite. I'm starving."

"I just want to take a nice, relaxing bath." Zura had popped out to say this, though, upon catching sight of him, I quickly ushered him into the safety of Zero's backpack, afraid that he may get chased away if he was spotted. I couldn't help but notice Zero's smirk, which was easy enough to translate. _It's funny, she worries too much._ I crossed my arms across my chest and huffed in a way that I hoped displayed a fraction of annoyance, pointedly looking away from him.

Zero ignored me, too. At least, for a little while. He quickly grew bored and gently tapped me on the back of his head with his knuckles. I pretended to pout at I glanced back at his, cradling my injury and sniffling loudly. "Come on, idiot. Let's go check in." I followed without compliant, walking at a sedate pace that had me to falling behind both boys. They noticed, and slowed down to match my speed. "Why are you walking so slow?" Zero complained, tugging my hand for empathises. "Hurry up."

I allowed him to coax me into going a little faster. "My legs hurt a little." I replied, but averted my eyes from both boys in case they sniffed out my lie. Zero looked startled by that, and instantly decreased his speed. But, he didn't let go. I don't think he even realised he was still holding my hand. "It's probably from all that standing we were doing. I'm sure they'll be okay after a little while." I added quickly, after spotting Ichii's concerned expression. I wanted to enjoy this trip as much as possible. I wouldn't be able to do that if he was worried about my health and forced me to stay inside.

 _This is going to be so much fun!_

* * *

I carefully left my backpack leaning against the leg of the table, giving a cautious glance over my shoulder as I did so. Both Ichii and Zero were sitting down, clearly relaxed. They'd cheerfully dumped their bags near the door. Since they weren't carrying anything delicate, they didn't need to be worried about how they handled them. Ichii met my eyes, and smiled lightly at my fluttering. I was so excited, I'd been bouncing around for quite a while now.

"Are you guys thirsty? I'm thirsty. Should I go make something? I was thinking about making some coco. Do you guys want any? Wait. Do we have a kitchen? Is there a kitchen at all? Do we even have any coco?" Zero, recovering from his shocked state, jumped to his feet and gently clamped his hand over my mouth, effectively halting my hyper-active babbling. We remained that way for quite a while, revelling in the peace and quiet, before Ichii rolled his eyes and fixed Zero with a look only they could understand. After giving me a warning look, Zero carefully removed his fingers and backed away.

"Someone's excited."

I nodded frantically, which raised smiles from both the boys. "This place is so cool. Do you think there are lots of people here? It looks nice. I expect it'll be pretty busy, right?"

Ichii chuckled good-naturally, though his reply was cut short by a cute little meow. I froze solid and attempted to conceal the guilt that was rising on my flushed cheeks. Ichii was regarding me so carefully. I could tell just how suspicious he was and wasn't prepared to allow him to find out my little secret. I bit my cheek to force myself to calm down. "Did you guys gear that? It... sounded like a cat."

"I didn't hear anything." My reply was far too rushed, and now Zero was also looking my way, frowning intently at me. Feeling my heart thump heavily in my chest, I flitted over to the door leading outside and peeked my head out. "Maybe it's hiding out here?" I suggested, though I only succeeded in drawing unnecessary attention to myself. To distract them, to divert their attention. It was the first and stupidest thing my brain pushed my to do. "Here, kitty. Come here, kitty."

"Hikari," Zero's voice was light and incredibly casual. But I winced. Visibly. He seemed far too casual. "What's this here?" I took a deep breath to steel myself. Zero was kneeling down, he'd fully opened my rucksack and beside the huge invasion of privacy, he had discovered my secret. Well, more accurately, he was cradling my secret in his arms as she purred and snuggled into his chest. I stood very still I knew for a fact that my face had gone scarlet and my mouth didn't appear to be working properly. It was just uselessly opening and closely, completely unable to form coherent words, but providing a very good goldfish impression. "You brought Tabby?"

Those three words were the trigger I needed to correct my incapability to speak. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to lie to you. But I couldn't possibly leave her in that big lonely house all by herself. And asking Kei or Ayumi to take care of her was out of the question. I'd have to explain everything and that would be far too complicated! I thought this would be the best solution. Their parents would've informed my mum and she wouldn't be too happy about me going off on my own with two guys she's never even met before, despite the fact that she seems pretty fond of you guys. I'm so sorry! Please don't be mad at me! I wasn't thinking straight. I should've done something different instead of being so s-stu-stupid-"

I was instantly silenced by Ichii, as he pulled me into a tight hug. I melted against him, burying my head into his chest as I attempted to gain a better control over my erratic breathing. "Hush, Hikari. It's alright, we're not mad at you. Not over something as insignificant as this." He slowly held me out at arms length and his smile was so reassuring, I felt ridiculous for ever getting so worked up. I chanced a small glance at Zero. His face was creased with genuine worry and he was hovering uncertainly, shifting his weight around in a way that fully displayed his indecisiveness. He appeared as though he really did want to do something to provide comfort, but lacked the critical knowledge of _how._ So, he merely satisfied himself with taking a backseat, while Ichii easily calmed my racing nerves. "You don't ever have to be afraid to tell us things, Hikari. We're here for you, no matter what. Okay?"

"Okay." I took a deep breath. "I was scared you'd tell me to leave her. She'd be so sad being stuck at the house, I couldn't do that to her."

"We'd be hypocrites if we did that, wouldn't we?" Zero said, grinning lightly. "We brought Zura along, after all." My lips tugged up in a small, hopeful smile. I almost giggled when Zura loudly protested that he wasn't a pet, so it wasn't an _entirely_ different matter that he was allowed to come. He sulked by Ichii, who was barely managing to stop himself from laughing. "We've just gotta make sure no-one spots her. It'll be easy. Trust me."

"I trust you."


	8. The Exciting Hot Spring, Part 2

I giggled softly as Tabby playfully swiped at my hand. Though as I paused, she meowed loudly, her little paws wiggling in the air above her head, demanding for me to commence my fussing over her once more. I complied, tickling her exposed belly and giggling again as she purred contently.

As I was cooing over Tabby's cuteness, something which I wasn't ever able to restrain myself from doing when she was within two metres of me, Ichii rose to his feet.

He glanced at the two of us, that being myself and Zero, the latter who had sprawled out rather casually across the floor, easily making himself at home. "Well, anybody wanna check out the baths with me?"

Zero with more speed and agility than I ever knew he even possessed, hurriedly jumped to his feet, squirming on the spot and waving his hand around in the air quite uncontrollably as he excitably exclaimed "I do!" in such a way that made him seem so endearing.

I, on the other hand, didn't move. While I'd never been to a hot-spring before and it was very new and exciting experience for me, I was content on staying in the room for a little while. In fact, I was dead set on snuggling up in my blanket as I curled up on the windowsill and read my book, maybe pausing to pet Tabby if she followed me over. Though that plan instantly shattered as soon as I looked up from gently tickling Tabby underneath her chin.

Both of the boys were getting undressed, apparently not too concerned about the fact that I was still in the room.

I froze for a second in which both of them had managed to remove their tops before I regained the power of movement. I barely succeeded in stifling my shriek of surprise. "What are you two doing?" My voice was high-pitched and slightly muffled by my obstructing hands, which were covering my entire face instead of the more intelligent option of just covering my eyes. "Couldn't you have gone into the bathroom to change?" I could feel both of them staring at me and my whole face tingled. My cheeks were tinted scarlet, I already knew that much.

"Stop making such a big deal over everything and go get changed yourself, Hikari." Zero replied, far too nonchalantly for me to do anything but sit there, my mouth gaping like a fish behind my cupped hands. Thankfully, I managed to raise myself to my feet without falling over.

"Uh, you guys go on ahead... I'll meet you there." I succeeded on backing away to the door, still completely blind and paused for a moment. "Oh, and don't forget to lock the door and put Tabby in the room where I set up her litter box. See you later." And with that I dived out of the door, running the whole length of the corridor before I had calmed down enough to walk at a normal pace.

"That was so embarrassing!" I skipped down the stairs after I had managed to resist the temptation to slide down the banister, though I didn't get much further than that as I stopped in the middle of the corridor, crossing my arms over my chest, barely fighting back a smile as I realised how odd I must've looked over-reacting like that.

 _Zero was completely right. I should've just gone into the other room instead of getting worked up. If Zero and Ichii were changing in front of me, then they must've felt comfortable to do so. I'm so silly! Running out of there like that, they must've thought I was crazy._

I almost laughed aloud as I remembered the nonplussed looks the two of them where wearing as I escaped. "I'd better get back and change. This is exciting! My first trip to a hot springs, I have to enjoy every moment of it."

"I have something even more exciting in store for you." I wheeled around so sharply at the familiar voice that I was afraid I might've induced whiplash.

Gou, Rokka's loyal butler was standing in the game's room, staring straight at me. The last time I'd encountered those two I'd had a spell cast on me that reverted my body back to a younger form, when I was nearly three years old. Crawling around had earned my hands and knees a fair amount of cuts and grazes which stung painfully when Zero helped me to disinfect them later. Not only that, but Gou transported me to a weird Child's room where I was nearly crushed when I tried to save Zura. Luckily, Ichii and Zero managed to spot us and rescued us just in time, but it was still a terrifying experience. Especially when I was almost KO-ed by a giant stuffed bunny that Rokka conjured up out of the blue.

"A-Ano..." My voice was shaking as I stood frozen to the spot by his captivating stare.

My hand slowly snaked into my pocket but as it searched and was rewarded with empty air, I was struck with a sudden feeling of helplessness. I'd left the lollipop Ichii had given me in the room. It was in my backpack, the first pocket, in the place where I was sure I'd remember it. But obviously, due to my whole running out of the room escapade, I'd forgotten all about it.

"I'm afraid you've made a big mistake by coming out here tonight without Zero and Ichii by your side. So I'll seize this golden opportunity and take you away. Those two will never be able to find you again."

His words were just the trigger I needed and they sparked me into action. I spun neatly around, aiming to run as far and as fast as I could, only for the door to slam shut in my face. "How rude," Gou said, a chiding note in his voice. "It's not very nice to walk out on people like that." My fists clenched at my side, I frantically searched the room for any other means of escape.

Apparently the room hated me, because I found none.

"Summoning phantom magic: Game's Square." I winced and shielded my eyes as the room spun before my eyes. When I glanced around, my surroundings were completely unfamiliar. My eyes widened as gravity took affect and I slid down the slope. I managed to flip onto my front and clawed at the ground in a frantic attempt to halt my decent.

From what I'd seen so far, this whole place looked exactly like a typical pinball machine. I grabbed something though, and held on tight, too scared to even bother to look closely at what it was. As long as it kept me secured in place, I was fine. "Having fun, Hikari? I transported you into a pinball machine in the hot springs arcade."

"Let me out of here right now!" I yelped.

"Stop complaining." He ordered. "Or I'll make this much harder for you." The words I was yelling might've have been spoken in another language for all I was aware, since I'd lost the ability to even recognise what I was saying. Apparently they were comprehensible though, because they spurred Gou into action. "Right, well let's start the game, it's sure to be a blast. Good luck, now, Hikari." At the harsh chiming from behind me, I slowly forced myself to glance over my shoulder. Just as I'd feared, the ball was spiralling in my direction. I was certain it had the power to flatten me, so, screaming, I launched myself to the side, slipping down a couple of feet and grabbing hold of the stick thing that was helpfully placed within my reach. "Don't let your guard down just yet," Gou warned, seemingly enjoying his twisted game as he propelled the ball back up towards me.

I used the base of it as a springboard and pushed myself forward, changing position once more. As I watched the ball flying around, I struggled to catch my breath. My heart was hammering in my chest, constantly reminding me I was still alive, but it wasn't enough. I'd been mere inches away from being flattened! The instant the ball looked set on heading towards me, I moved. And how happy I was that for once I could spring around so athletically. Of course, now I've said that, it's certain that I'm going to jinx myself.

"Lady Rokka is pretty upset with you. Perhaps this will calm her nerves."

Despite me desperately reaching out, grasping at the floor and doing anything to push myself away; my hands had slipped from their secure hold and I was falling down, the ball shooting up towards me. I braced myself. The scream that erupted out of my mouth was something I hadn't been expecting. Nor that fact that I followed it with a fair amount of babbling. "Zero, Ichii! Help me, please!"

My prayers were answered when I heard that magical voice yell: "That's it, I won't let you do that! Magical Break!"

And break he did.

Not me, or Gou. Zero broke the machine with his flaming fist.

Perhaps calling his voice magical was a bit of an understatement. Though, while his methods were debatable, I was back to my original size and thankfully out of the machine, so I could give him points for that.

"Are you alright?" He asked, pulling me to my feet, keeping a wary eye trained on Gou as he did so.

I could only muster up a small nod in return. "I almost had the pearl." Gou said, though his voice held little regret.

"No way." Zero replied, spinning back around to face his enemy, fists held at the ready. "You'll never get the pearl, not as long as I'm protecting Hikari!"

"Hikari! Zero!" Ichii swept in through the doorway, his eyes scanning the two of us, searching for any injuries before locking onto Gou and his face twisting into a scowl I wasn't aware Ichii could make. "It's you." And with that, he charged at Gou, aiming to tackle him but just missing as Gou escape through some kind of magical escape portal. Ichii instead landed at my feet and while I could've guessed it would have happened, I still shrieked a little. Just a little. "He got away." Ichii sat up, rubbing his sore chin before climbing to his feet, his hand gentle as it rested on my arm. "Are you okay, Hikari?"

"Yeah, I'm fine now, thanks for asking Ichii."

"If Gou came all this way to attack Hikari, then there may be others. We can't let our guard down." I sighed. _Some much for having a nice, relaxing holiday._

* * *

After we'd made a hasty exit from the arcade, something which hadn't been very easy due to the vast amount of customers who had been attracted to the noise and had gathered in the doorway, the three of us walked back to our rooms in order for me to get changed. After the situation with Gou, they were a lot more cautious about leaving me on my own. Something which I was both thankful for and a little tired of.

"Zero, did you really have to break the machine? What if we get in trouble? They might make us pay for it and I don't think I'll have enough money to if they do."

"I did what I had to do to save you, so stop complaining." Zero replied harshly. I puffed out my cheeks and turned away in response. I looked childish, but I didn't know what else to do. I was worried. Getting into trouble was something I was quite inept at dealing with. "I had no choice but to break the machine, Hikari. So just drop it." I didn't have anything else to fight back, so eventually, I did.

* * *

Splitting up into the separate baths was pretty difficult.

While one part of me was terrified of being apart from them at that specific moment in time, the other definitely didn't want to be anywhere near them. I mean, this was a hot springs. Where people _bathe._ I'd be wearing a towel, obviously, but that didn't matter. I mustered up my courage throughout the walk there and when we reached them, I smiled and waved like I didn't have a care in the world.

Though I did pause just before entering, rocking back on my heels long enough for Ichii to slip a miniature version of the lollipop into my hair. It was held in place by the pretty ribbon that was securing my raven locks into a messy ponytail. My little ribbons that usually decorated either side of my hair were gone. So was my locket. It was silly but my neck felt remarkably cold and bare without it.

"You've got nothing to worry about, Hikari." Ichii said gently, easily banishing my fears, "As long as you've got that lollipop, nobody can lay a hand on you."

I smiled a genuine, happy smile this time, as I waved and disappeared through the door onto the female side of the hot spring. I cautiously dipped my foot into the water to test the temperature before entering. It wasn't really necessary though, the water was so warm and relaxing. It felt so good, I decided in that moment that I never wanted to leave.

As I stretched, I caught sight of a sign just shy of the water's edge. "Huh? The legend of Haruyama lake? If you look into your reflection in the water... the face of your destined soul mate will appear? Oh, that's so... romantic! May I should I should try? Something like that sounds so exciting. Hmm... I wonder who my soul mate is?" Instantly, images of both Zero and Ichii flooded my mind. "Maybe... One of them? But... Maybe it's someone else?" I chanced another glance at the sign, my thoughts were already spinning into overdrive. "Okay, no more imagining for you, Hikari. You're on holiday, your supposed to relax!" Smiling, I sunk further into the water. "But wait... I shouldn't spend too much time in the bath... I've read that you can faint... and anyway, I can't leave Tabby alone in our room for too long-"

"What are you worried about?" The gargled voice surprised me and I almost tripped over as I stumbled back a fair few paces, my hand fluttering to my chest as it threatened to smash through my ribs. "Don't you want to play with me?" I could barely control my breathing as a shape emerged out of the water. Of course, I guessed I needn't have worried too much. It was only San.

"San? What are you doing here?"

"I came here for you, of course. So I can get the pearl and finish the final exam." I winced. _I knew it._ Her smile seemed so innocent and gentle, yet I knew she was anything but. "Summoning Magic: Ducky Hunt!" The little duck that appeared was so adorable, it induced the same cuteness proximity I got with Tabby. Though I didn't dare touch it, I only squealed and cooed over it."But he won't be so cute once he gets bigger."

And right she was, since it's grown form could put the ugly duckling to shame any day. I screamed loudly and dived to the side as it lunged at me. I waded through the water as fast as I could, cursing my shot height as it chased me.

Splashing around frantically and trying to run through water that almost reached up to my shoulders wasn't a good thing to do. Nor was it a particularly fast way of escaping, either. So when I tripped over my own two feet and fell head first into the water, I was a little surprised to find the massive duck/goose thing to be fully occupied once I emerged. Though when I managed to blink my sight back and saw Zero standing in the midst of the destroyed partition between the men's and women's section, I found the evident cause for it's lack of attention.

The water in my ears prevented me from really hearing what Zero was saying, but I got the message when he shot a magical attack at the goose, which sent it spiralling away, where hopefully it would stay. San then disappeared on her owl, seemingly smart enough to not allow herself to get caught.

Smiling, I turned to Zero, words of gratitude and praise ready on my lips but when I tried to take a step towards him, my whole leg buckled. I disappeared under the surface for a second, before I rose back up, shrieking as I flailed around, attempting to stay above the water. The muscles in my leg were tense and taut, refusing to obey my commands and act like they were supposed to.

"Zero, I'm going to drown! Please, do something! Help me!"

"The water's not that deep, Hikari. Even you can stand up."

"No, Zero, that's not it. I have a cramp in my leg!" I was still desperately searching for a way to haul myself up, but leg was still stubbornly refusing to obey. This time I couldn't get back up. When my back touched the uneven surface of the floor, I truly appreciated the phrase of sinking like a stone. For a moment I was struck with blind panic and, stupidly, I screamed. Water flooded into my mouth. I didn't have a way to remove it. I couldn't even swim up to save myself.

 _I'm going to drown!_

But then hands shot down into the water, clumsily searching around for a few seconds before smacking me not once, but twice in the head. Once the hands had located my back, one looped around it, the other underneath me knees as they scooped me up and quickly pulled me out. Coughing and spluttering, I must've resembled a fountain as the water sprayed out of my mouth in a steady stream. I didn't have much strength, so I compromised, leaning weakling against Zero's bare chest as he cradled me in his arms, waiting until I summoned up the energy to stand on my own two feet.

"Hikari, are you alright?" Zero's expression was almost twisted beyond recognition. Blinking owlishly, I allowed myself to stare into his eyes and I discovered something I hadn't really expected. Fear. Real, undiluted fear.

"... I-I think so." More coughing as I hacked out my lungs. "Thank you, Zero."

I was blushing now. A mix of water and saliva had dribbled down my chin. I moved quickly to swipe it away, hoping that Zero hadn't noticed it. That movement though was apparently far too fast and I felt my towel slipping loose. Blindly, I grabbed at it with one hand, the other automatically reaching out and slapping Zero around the face. That, while being incredibly unexpected for the boy, was a completely stupid thing for me to do. One, because I had just hurt my friend, no matter how unintentional it had been. The other being the fact that Zero, who was so shocked at being slapped without any apparent reason or warning, dropped me.

Instantly realising his mistake, Zero plunged back in, his hands desperately exploring the empty water above my head and I had once again inhaled a mouthful of water, evidently not learning from the first time I'd made that mistake that it wasn't a very good idea. He'd hooked his arm around my legs, though when he lifted my out, his left hand, aside grabbing my towel which I assumed had been his aim, was grabbing a certain womanly part I didn't exactly want him to be touching. Obviously, by his massive blush and stiff muscles, Zero hadn't been intending for it either. We were both frozen for several seconds, staring at each other with wide eyes, our breathing laboured and heavy. Mine, from nearly drowning twice in the space of five minutes. His, from nearly having a heart attack thrice in the space of five minutes.

"You... Have no boobs..."

Of course, that made me shriek.

I could see Ichii stumbling through the broken fence, heading towards us.

All of a sudden, Zero was shoved away from me by some magical force. I could see a barrier between us, one that I recognised to be one induced by Ichii's magic. The lollipop had decided that now it would chip in a protect me, also causing a mini tidal-wave which arched over Zero, who washed up near the opposite side of the bath. Luckily, I landed on my feet and was able to storm away, holding my towel firmly in place, my cheeks aflame.

* * *

I hugged the pillow tightly to my chest, my cheeks puffed up with air as I stared determinedly ahead. Tabby was curled up on my lap, doing her absolute best to try and cheer me up, but I could barely think straight. I couldn't even decide whether I was angry or whether I just wanted to cry. It was apparently a lot more difficult to figure out than I previously thought. When I'd entered I made sure to leave a note on the door and had promptly locked it behind me.

I knew the boys where outside as soon as I heard Ichii gently sigh and read what I'd left for them. "' _I'm busy being mad. I don't want to talk about it. I also locked the door, so don't try to come in.'_ She's really upset, huh?" I squeezed the pillow tighter at the sound of his voice. I felt guilty for locking Ichii out but I was upset and I wasn't at home. I couldn't retreat into my bedroom like I usually would and I definitely didn't want to face Zero yet. "Guess we blew it, didn't we?"

"Let's just leave that witch alone." His words were so sharp, it felt like he'd literally stabbed me. To be honest, I think that insult stung more than the one about my obvious lack of endowment. Tabby gave a small meow and nuzzled my hand comfortingly, but it didn't help much. "Come on Ichii, let's just leave her alone and go play some ping pong!" I heard footsteps retreat and instantly loosened my posture.

 _Go ahead, leave me... I don't care... Not one little bit._ I sighed deeply, stretching my legs out and half-heartedly petting Tabby as she nudged at my side. _Zero's the one in the wrong, right? He's the one that was mean to me... But if that's right, they why do_ ** _I_** _feel so bad?_

I don't really know why I did it. It was like some unseen force was urging me to. So I checked outside. "Zero? Ichii?" I almost screamed when I saw Ichii sitting out there with his back leaning against the wall and instantly ducked back to safety. Though I don't really know why inside the room was safety, since being with Ichii had proven to be very safe for me in the past. Twiddling my thumbs, I stared at the closed door for a moment, before I managed muster up the courage to speak. "I... I thought you went to play ping pong with Zero."

Ichii chuckled. "You know we can't leave you all by yourself." I stayed silent, twisting my hands nervously in my lap. Tabby mewled at the sound of Ichii's voice, and cheerfully padded over, prodding at the closed door for a second, before collapsing onto my lap. "Listen, Zero can be hotheaded and can come across as a jerk because he says what's on his mind sometimes. But I know that all he really wants to do is protect you."

"Ichii... I... What if he's just protecting me because I swallowed the Crystal Pearl?"

"No, that's not the only reason. Zero and I care about your safety." I couldn't help bout doubt him. How could Ichii really know what Ichii was thinking? But, as if he had read my mind, Ichii continued on. "I know I'm right because I know Zero and I know that he really cares about protecting you." I hesitated for a little while longer, before slowly edging out of the door, gently cradling Tabby as I did so. Ichii smiled, and carefully scratched her behind one of her soft, silvery ears. "It's good to finally see you again."

"Ichii... I'm not... sure..."

"Just go downstairs and follow the signs, it's hard to miss the ping pong room. You better hurry, Zero's waiting for you." I nodded shyly and carefully handed Tabby to him. "Go on now, good luck." I thanked him justly and headed off.

 _Zero... He saved me so many times today... But... I didn't once... I didn't once really and truly thank him... All I did was complain!_

I decided that this time I would slide down the banister. Though, unlike every other time I'd indulged myself on my childish tendencies and gained a fair amount of enjoyment after. This time, all I could think about was Zero and how vile I'd been to him.

 _What's the matter with me? So what if Zero broke the machine... He saved my life in the process. So what if Zero accidentally... Accidentally... Well... It wasn't really his fault, anyway. I was the one that slapped him... All I had to do was just grab a hold of my towel, but I over reacted, just like I always do._ I glanced at the sign of the wall and quickly followed the direction the arrow was pointing in. I couldn't afford to wait any longer. I just had to apologise! _He saved three times. When San attacked me, he stopped the giant goose/duck thing. When my cramp kicked in, he carried me so I wouldn't drown. And then when I hit him, he still pulled me back out._

Bursting through the door, I was met with the cold night air as I stepped outside. It was dark. Darker than I was used to. Of course, that was because there were no handy street-lamp lighting the way for me. I hesitated, my back pressed against the door, staring out into the inky blackness.

 _Zero knows I hate walking alone. Especially in the dark..._ I bit my lip. Hard. The taste of iron was harsh against my tongue, but I didn't stop. _Zero must really want to talk to me. Just me. I have to do this. I have to apologise. If that means I have to... to... to go into a situation I'm not entirely comfortable with, then so be it! I have to learn to be braver! I'm not going to get anywhere if I stay this shy, quiet little girl._

As I plunged forward, I was struck with a sudden though.

 _Zero's always helping me. Even now, he must be trying to help me get over my anxiety._ I glanced at a nearby tree, noticing the arrow was pointing straight ahead and followed it. As the trees began to thin out, my heart soared. _This must be where Zero was leading me. That means I can apolo-_

My foot penetrated through an icy blackness.

 _Water!_

I stumbled back, my eyes scanning around me, widening as I recognised the site before me. "Lake Haruyama? What's going on?" I backed away from the water, in fear that I may clumsily tumble into it. "Hold on... Zero? Zero? Where are you? Zero!"

A pretty melody drifted up from around me. By the time I realised it sounded familiar, it was far too late. The flute had already hypnotized me, forcing my legs to walk forwards. Into the lake. Outwardly, my body didn't shiver as the cold attacked my senses, but inwardly I was dying. The water was waist high and rising, slowly but surely waiting until I fully immersed myself in it and drowned, trapped inside my own body, forced to watch it happen but having no power to stop it.

"No!" The cry was so sudden that it shocked my out of my trace. Though I wouldn't doubt that it was the person the voice belonged to, that really dragged me out of the darkness. Zero's hands rested on my shoulder, shaking me, a little roughly. The same look was held in his eyes. Utter fear. "What are you doing? Snap out of it now!"

 _Did he think I was trying to...?_

"We were so close!" Forte's anguished yell instantly caught Zero's attention.

"Forte?" He scowled at the boy, his hands tightening on my shoulders, edging me a little closer to him. I didn't complain. I was done with being scared and quite honestly, I was freezing and Zero was, well, warm. At that moment in time, I wasn't really all too concerned about how were we in such close proximity to each other, I was more focused on borrowing his body heat.

"I think it's time I finished both of you off, once and for all." And with that dramatic deceleration, Forte once again commenced playing his flute of death. Did I mention how much I really hate flutes? Now I'd like to take the time to express my utter hatred for the instrument. The owl, as commanded, rose up from his hiding spot and hurtled towards us. We manage to duck, though, and it sailed right on by us.

"This is going to be so much fun!" San exclaimed. "Summoning Magic: Wild Catfish!"

The creature was nothing like I'd ever seen before, for it flicked it's large tail out and struck Zero down, roughly shoving him underneath the water. I screamed loudly, instantly using my hands to try and find him. I was so caught up, that I missed what I assumed to be Forte's ending one liner. Something about meeting your match, I wasn't really paying attention.

The owl squawked loudly, it's talons outstretched. I glanced up. I didn't even have the chance to move. Though I didn't need to, as Zero emerged out of the water, throwing his arms up to protect me as he cried, "Look out!" I couldn't see much, from the amount of water that splashed up, but I think I heard Zero give a little gasp of pain. I wasn't really sure. He reached out, taking my hand and pulling me closer. He didn't let go.

Our attackers were closing in, and fast. My fear was intensifying by the second.

"Zero, what are we going to do? How do we stop them?"

He clenched his hands, stopping when he realised that it was hurting me."I don't know! But don't worry. I'll figure something out. Just stay behind me, I'll protect you!" The owl swooped down, ready to dive bomb us. My breath hitched in my throat as Zero looped his arms around me, using his body to shield as much of me as possible. "Brace yourself." I inched closer, burying my head further in his chest, whispering _I'm sorry, I'm sorry I'm sorry_ over and over again, so quietly that I wasn't really sure he could even hear it.

Though when the pain never came, when the owl apparently failed it's attacked, me both straightened up, glancing around and locating our friend, who had once again swept in and saved the day right at the moment we needed it.

"Ichii!" Zero had never sounded happier to see him.

"Now's your chance! And don't hold anything back!"

"You don't have to tell me that." He turned, scowling towards San and Forte, his demeanour deadly. Zero was dangerous when he truly got mad, I knew that much. "I've had just about enough of you two idiots attacking Hikari. This ends right now!" San and Forte gasped, and made to run, but they wouldn't have made it two feet. Not with the mood Zero was in. "Destruction Magic: Magic Cannon!" The two, as per usual, were blasted sky-high. This time I didn't even fool myself into hoping they'd stay there. It was only a matter of time before they came back.

Once we reached the bank, Zero finally allowed his body to shown the full extent of his injury. Though He claimed it was just a scratch, it was obvious he was in a lot of pain

. _Zero hurt himself protecting me. How many times am I going to ignore what he's done? I came out here to apologise, so that's exactly what I'm going to do!_

"Listen-" Both myself and Zero hurriedly stopped talking, faint traces of blushes spreading across both our cheeks. "I've been think-"

"Ah- Sorry!" Zero exclaimed, before I even had the chance to apologise myself.

"What?"

"I'm sorry." Zero repeated, raising his head. His cheeks were fully pink now, something which even I couldn't miss. "I thought I should apologise... for making you angry." _He wanted to make up with me, too._

"Thank you, Zero." He seemed just as surprised at those words, as I was at his apology. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't thank you for saving me all those times... In fact, a lot of the time I was pretty mean to you... And I slapped you, which I shouldn't have done. At all. I mean, it was so out of line... So I'm really sorry, too. I hope... You'll forgive me?"

"Okay then. That's enough, no more fighting for us." He quickly stood up, though he was still a little shaky on his legs. I couldn't believe that I hadn't noticed it before, but an awkward Zero was pretty endearing. "Lets get back, come on, Hikari." He didn't wait though, too busy feeling awkward and embarrassed to really think straight. Also, he was nursing a pretty serious injury, so he could be excused of almost anything right now. Ichii, smiling a little, followed him.

Though I hesitated, and edged towards the lake, kneeling down and peering into the water at my reflection.

I could see both Ichii and Zero were looking back at me from the shimmering surface of the water. There was a pressure on my back. Zero was leaning on me. I smiled and looked up, nodding in agreement as they suggested we get back and took Zero's hand as he gently helped me up.

 _For now, it doesn't matter. I'm just glad there both here, and I can enjoy being with them._

* * *

Having a face looming over you once you'd jerked yourself out of a nightmare isn't one of the most pleasant feelings ever. Having two is even more so. But that feeling is easily extinguished once you realise that those faces belong to two of the most important people in your life.

Zero, not so helpfully poked me in the forehead a couple of times, only stopping when Ichii slapped his wrist in a warning. The said boy then helped me to sit up, wrapping the blanket that Zero supplied him with around my shoulders and regarding me with a worried expression as Zero sat back on his haunches, studying me just as intently.

The two of them being there eased my nerves significantly, especially since I hadn't the faintest idea where I was when I'd opened my eyes. Tabby mewled, sleepily padding over and promptly forgot to stop, causing her to head-butt my knee. "You okay?" Ichii asked, concerned. I nodded my head, allowing my hands to glide over the futon supplied by the hot springs. It was a lot comfier than any futon I'd ever slept on before.

"I just had a nightmare about what happened today." Though I didn't seem it as I lunge forward and checked the bandages neatly wrapped around the wound on Zero's back. The skin was warm, and a little sweaty, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. When I pulled back, I was met with expecting looks from both of the boys. "Zero bled to death." I whispered, choking slight on the words.

"That's it?" The boy replied, rather nonchalantly. "You know I'm not dying any time soon-"

"I know, you made a promise to protect me." I said, smiling.

Zero snorted. "No, I've got way too many things I need to tease you about! Seriously, my life will not be complete until I get to fulfil my wish." We stared unblinkingly at each other for a couple of seconds, before Zero sighed. "I'm a jerk, right?"

I started to laugh. "No. You're just you, Zero."

* * *

 **A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who is reading this, I really hoped you enjoyed this new chapter.**

 **Also a big thank you to LoveInuyasha22 for your continued support: You're awesome and I really hope you like this chapter!**

 **And to JJ: Thank you for the reviews! Though I didn't really understand what you meant when you were talking about Forte. And you pointed out something that nobody else had mentioned yet, the absence of Hikari's father! I already have quite a good idea of how I'm going to play out Hikari's backstory, I'm just not really sure when I'm going to include it. I'm going to do exactly what you said though, gradually; Hikari will gain more confidence as she's influenced by both Zero and Ichii. That's one of the reason's I made her so shy and dependant on others.**


	9. Gangs, Knives and Martial Arts, Part 1

I smothered a yawn with the back of my hand, blinking owlishly at my companion and running forward a couple of paces to keep at their side, struggling to match their quick pace. A strong gust of wind whipped past, blowing my hair across my face and causing the plastic bag in my hand to rustle loudly. After succeeding on prising my raven locks away from my eyes, I was forced to jog forward again to catch up with Zero.

It was a chilly Saturday morning and was neither late nor especially early, though despite it being around ten the sky was still downcast, leaving everything looking rather gloomy and miserable. I was now beginning to severely regret not having the sense to take my jacket as I shivered once more. I consoled myself with the knowledge that I would be home soon, where I would be able to burrow into my bundle of blankets, curl up onto my window seat and read to my hearts content surrounded by a pleasant warmth that I hopefully wouldn't be leaving any time soon.

Zero sighed and muttered curses under his breath as he lifted his foot back up out of the muddy water. He'd stepped into a puddle, a fairly large one at that and which had, by the looks of it, soaked all inside his trainer as well as the tips of his trouser leg. "Great, it's in my sock." He complained, quickening his pace even further. "Hurry up, Hikari." He added, after a fleeting glance over his shoulder to check whether I was still following. With my shorter legs, it was much harder for me to match those long, looping strides so, instead, I satisfied myself with light skipping steps and plainly ignored Zero when he commanded me to stop, grumbling that it looked weird.

I nimbly jumped over a puddle, noticing that my laces were untied and stopped down to rectify that. If Kei was here she probably would've scolded me and my clumsiness by now. I straightened up and then promptly walked into Zero's back as he stopped directly in front of me.

"Hey," Wincing, I dodged around him, rubbing my sore cheek and followed his gaze. He was staring at an alleyway just before us, a certain curiousness held in his eyes. "Wouldn't it be quicker if we cut through there?"

Panic instantly rose in my chest. I snatched Zero's arm before he could even fully complete his first step, insistently tugging him backwards. "No." I squeaked, not all too bothered about how my voice reminded me of a little mouse; the way it was so high pitched. "We can't go down there. It's way too dangerous." Zero turned to face me, one eyebrow raised in amused disbelief as he gently tried to shake off my hand. I tightened my grip though, already well aware that all the colour had drained from my face. "We _can't,_ Zero. We can't go down there. I'm not allowed and... I don't want to!"

"Why not?" He sounded pretty bored, to be honest.

 _"Because,"_ I chanced a small glance over my shoulder, almost anxious that somebody would be listening in- which, in all honesty, was pretty ridiculous- and lowed my voice even further so Zero had to bow his head, placing his ear right next to my lips and even then he could barely hear my hushed voice. "There's a gang that hangs out there."

Zero raised his head slightly, so he was able to look me in the eye. Both of his eyebrows were raised now and his face, especially his cheeks, were quite pink. I could tell he was trying so hard not to laugh right in my face. "I'm being serious!" I exclaimed. "They're down there. Kei and Ayumi told me so!" He still didn't look convinced. "I'm not lying! A couple of kids have got mugged and they beat up an old man."

"Gangs don't exist, Hikari." Zero chided, a note of amusement held in his voice as he commandeered my bag, hanging it one his left arm right next to the one he had been carrying the whole time. "They're just stories that parents made up to scare little kids so they don't go wandering off on their own. And anyway, they're completely over-dramatised in movies and stuff. Seriously," He rolled his eyes, a little smirk finding it's way onto his lips. "You'll be fine, come on." I folded my arms and stubbornly turned away from him. _No. Way. I'm not going down there._

"No." Zero opened his mouth, probably to start cajoling me once more. I clamped my hands over my ears, rather childishly to be honest, and continued my little mantra. "No! I don't want to! I don't want to! I don't want to!"

Zero gentle pulled them away, lowering my arms to my side. "You can hold my hand if you're scared." Zero teased, poking his tongue out at me. A comment which I'm sad to say that actually made me blush. He'd already began to walk towards the alley, ignoring my whispered protests.

I hesitated, bouncing on the balls of my feet, feeling my heart start to thump against my ribs as I quickly ran to join him, barely acknowledging the fact that I grabbed his hand with both of mine. _This is a bad idea. This is such a bad idea._ Our footsteps seemed to echo like gunshots as we carefully made our way further to what I could only assume was our impending doom. The walls seemed almost to tower above us and they were so close, trapping us, enclosing us like a prison.

We'd managed to walk about a third on the way when Zero turned to me, smirking a little victoriously. "See? What'd I tell you? No gangs." I wanted to face-palm so badly right then that I actually did it. Right there and then, I face-palmed, my hand making a rather satisfying _thwack_ as I did so. Zero's smirk instantly switched to a very forced cheery smile. "Right behind me?" I nodded, still in the process of face-palming.

"No gangs, huh, Zero?" He rubbed the back of his neck a little sheepishly, eyeing the two that were leaning against the wall a few paces before us, studying us just as intently in return. "Remind me to never listen to you ever again." I turned and managed to go a pace before I walked into what appeared to be a brick wall, which I promptly bounced off of, stumbling back into Zero. I gasped as I realised that the brick wall was actually a person. A very tall, now very angry person. I decided to dub him Tough Guy. The smaller one was now Skinny guy. The other one was Pants Guy, since he seriously needed to pull them up.

"Ow." He said, softly, though his voice was full of menace.

Zero's quiet muttering of, _we're so screwed_ , summed up my entire thoughts quite nicely. The men didn't even need to say anything else, for in one quick movement they had Zero eating the bricks as he was pinned against the wall, one of his arms forced behind him, Pants Guy's hand pushed roughly between his shoulder blades. He was groaning, and valiantly struggling as much as this position would allow him to. I didn't even think, I'd already launched myself at them, babbling nonsense, begging, _pleading_ them to release my friend. Tough Guy pushed me away so roughly that I fell to the floor.

"Give us your money. And make it quick." He snapped.

"Don't have any." Zero's voice was muffled as his face was pressed even further against the wall. I'd only just picked myself up off the ground as he did so.

At that moment in time, I finally realised how much danger we were really in. These were older, stronger guys. Men that were two, three times my height and probably triple my weight. I cried out as I felt a strong grip was on my upper arm. I squirmed for a second. Then I stopped. I was completely frozen. Petrified with fear. _Click._ In a sudden blur of movement, a penknife was flipped out. The blade caught a ray of sunlight, winking momentarily at me. I barely dared to breathe as it was held just centimetres away from my neck, nearly close enough to nick the skin. Nearly close enough to end my life.

"Are you sure?"

Zero was wheeled around, still restrained, his eyes wide, unblinking. _Scared._ They flicked across my face, searching for an signs of harm. He looked as if he was about to break down any second, but for my sake, he was trying his hardest to stay calm. "Okay." He breathed heavily, watching them warily, standing still for once, letting the fight drain out of him. Letting himself be weak. Be vulnerable."Okay. I'll get it. I'll get it... just... just let go. I'll get it." Pants Guy complied, but not before shoving him hard into the wall. Zero winced, clutching his arm, but he didn't react like I thought he would. After a moment's pause to recover, to dispel the pain, he held up his hands in a surrendering motion. Carefully, slowly he made his way towards me. Each step was calculated. Each breath laboured.

"Where?" He said, when he stood before me.

"Back pocket." I whispered, barely trusting myself to speak. The knife hadn't moved an inch. Zero briefly closed his eyes, gulped and nodded. He took a step forward. He was so close now, I was acutely aware of how much taller than me he really was. He rested a hand on my shoulder, giving it a gentle, barely reassuring, squeeze as he noticed the fact that I was trembling. His other arm snaked around my back. He searched for a moment, struggling to find the pocket and muttering quiet apologies for his accidental grouping. He found it and quickly located my wallet. The same wallet that held my Only-For-Emergencies savings account card. The very same savings account card that held *¥18353 yen stored on it. I couldn't loose that card. Zero knows that. He knows that my mum would kill me if I lost that card. But, how exactly am I supposed to save it? I have a freaking knife against my throat, after all.

His hands were shaking. But I noticed the fact that it almost looked forced. He braced himself for a moment, the quaking of his hands intensifying. Then suddenly, it slipped. Zero's eyes went comically wide. He lunged for it and then the wallet was flipped open. Zero briefly grappled for it in mid air, before he caught the wallet on his arm, fumbling slightly as he collected it back into his hand, yanking a little on his shirt sleeve as he did so.

"Here." He offered, outstretching the wallet towards Pants Guy, who looked as if he would very much like to pin him against the wall once again. "That's all we have."

"Bullshit." I flinched. That was the voice of Skinny Guy, the one holding me. Zero looked back, cautious. _Scared._ "Where's your's?"

Zero was looking straight into my eyes. He flicked his eyebrows up. _Do it._ I bit him on the hand. Skinny Guy shrieked. In one fluid movement, Zero had knocked his hand away, allowing me enough space to duck underneath the knife and escape his grip. Zero had the Skinny Guy's arm held across his body and in a flick of his arm he'd pinned it right at the elbow and had brought his knee up. There was an audible _crack_ as the blows connected. Zero swiped the knife and then shoved Skinny Guy away, throwing his remaining arm out across my body, keeping me firmly behind him.

"I just broke your arm," Zero's voice was full of such forced nonchalance, it didn't sound anything like him. "If you want me to break something else, then come right ahead." I wanted to scold _him_ right at the moment. I mean, seriously, what kind of idiot challenges the guys with the big pointy knives?

They hesitated for a moment. I thought they were going to back off. But then Tough Guy lunged forward. Zero swept to the side, pushing me away before dodging the attack and easily throwing the knife far away. His foot raised up, kicking the man hard in the solar plexus, winding him. He followed up with a punch in the chest which sent him doubling over and finished with a hard blow right to the temple, knocking him clean out. _Well... That was one mighty K.O._

"Stay behind me." Well, I wasn't exactly going to refuse, was I?

Zero was now apparently a Kung Fu master. When Pants Guy grabbed my arm and tried to use me as a shield Zero dived in. I performed my now signature move and bit him, this time on the arm. Zero round-housed him hard enough for him to spiral into the wall. With a quick tug, Zero pulled Pants Guy's feet for underneath him and then promptly stamped on his face, breaking his nose and impairing his vision with blood. I gagged at the sight, clamping a hand over my mouth and swallowing thickly, barely managing to force the bile down. That wasn't the most pleasant sight I'd ever had the misfortune of bearing witness to.

Zero studied Skinny Guy as he glanced at both of his friends, now slumped on the ground in various degrees of pain. Zero took a simple, rather threatening step forward. Skinny Guy fell flat on his ass, pushing himself as far away as the enclosed space would allow him. Zero had caught my hand before I could even react. "Run."

I didn't hesitate.

We were racing away before I had time to collect myself. Or reminded myself of the fact that we had just abandoned both my wallet and the shopping. But, I figured that stuff didn't really matter right now. I could only focus on a few things. The fact that my heart was pounding wildly against my chest, but all it really did was urge me on, reminding me that I was still alive. The fact that Zero's hand was warm and, though fairly clammy, it was nice to hold. The fact that my legs were killing me, but I ignored the pain and ran on. Ran on with Zero. Holding his hand. Feeling the warmth. Feeling protected. Feeling safe. I collided with his back as he paused to allow a car to speed past the road before dragging me across it. We weaved between crowds, trying our hardest not to topple anyone over, dishing out apologies when necessary.

We didn't stop again. Nor did we slow down until we had reached my house. Panting, breathless, I kneeled over. Zero leaned against the door while I hunted for my keys. After inserting them into the hole and turning the lock, we poured into the house, slamming the door firmly behind us and sprawling out across the floor as we tripped over each other.

My mother peered out from the kitchen doorway. "Hikari? Did you get the shopping?"

"Mama!" I wasn't even thinking. I ran straight forward and wound my arms around her, hugging her tightly. I was secure now, safe. I couldn't be hurt any more. After realising this, I started to cry. My shoulders shaking with sobs. When it was happening, I didn't really have enough time to be too scared, but now that I was safe all the emotions came pouring out in a torrent of delayed tears.

"Hikari? What happened, sweetie? Are you okay?" I burrowed my head even further into her chest as she squeezed me back, carefully stroking my hair as she attempted to comfort me. I could hear Zero raising himself to his feet and slowly edging closer, I guessed my mother was beckoning him to do so with her free hand. "It's alright, Hikari. You're okay now. Tell me what happened."

"It was all my fault." Zero said, his head hung low in shame, hair falling low over his face, casting a shadow over his eyes. "I got wet and wanted to take a short cut. Hikari warned me about the alley, but I didn't listen. I'm such an idiot. When I saw them, I froze. I should've done something. I should've tried to get her out of there, but I just _froze._ I was against the wall before I could even try to react. They wanted money. But, I didn't have any on me... So-"

"I had to give up my wallet, Mama. They had a knife to my throat, so Zero had to give it to them. He was only trying to protect me. But... I still lost the card. The Emergency card. I'm so sorry, please don't be mad at me."

She enveloped the both of us into a hug. Both me and Zero, as if we were both her kids. "Are you stupid? I don't care about that card, you silly little thing! I'm just glad you're okay. You could've been killed." She squeezed us tighter, conveying how worried she really was. "Thank God you're okay. Oh, thank god!" She kissed me on the forehead, whispering; _I love, love, love you_ which was two more loves than usual. I told her I loved her too.

"Zero beat them all up, Mama. You should've seen him. He was amazing! He just was like _Woosh_ and was Kung Fu-ing them all and everything. He's so cool!" Zero blushed and promptly looked away, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. "Where'd you learn all that, Zero?"

"Uh, Ichii taught me..." He mumbled, still not daring to look us in the eye. Instead, he occupied himself by stooping down and gently picking up Tabby, who had meowed happily at him as she pawed at his leg. His expression softened as he scratched her behind her silvery ears, lips splaying into a small smile as she purred contently. "I..." He trailed off as my gaze settled on his face. "I can... Teach you... If you want... I can't see you like that... I don't want you to be that helpless ever again... I'll teach you to defend yourself, if you want me to." I nodded enthusiastically, but before I could open my mouth, Zero was mumbling something again.

He carefully handed Tabby to my mother, his cheeks turning scarlet as he pulled out my Savings Account card from where it was concealed up his sleeve. "Ano... I... I managed to nick it when I pretended to drop your wallet and then... Well, I hid it up my sleeve... I... I couldn't let you lose something like this..."

He almost fell over when I tackled him with a hug.

* * *

* ¥18353 yen – Seems like a lot, but it's actually roughly equivalent to £100.

 **A/N: And that concludes my 9th chapter. It's a little shorter than the rest but I really hope you guys liked it as it's my first outside of the usual anime/manga plot.**

 **JJ:** I think I made Hikari around 4"7-4"9 (139cm-146cm). In the actual serious Nina is 5" (153cm?), Zero is 5"3 (160cm?) and Ichii is 5"7 (170cm). LoveInuyasha22 helped me to decided her height, so a big thank you to her. That's exactly how I feel, I thought it would be awkward for her to obsess like Nina does, since I've been 12 and my bust was not something I was all too concerned about. The same goes for now.

 **LoveInuyasha22:** I love reading your reviews! Thank you for showing your support once more! That's a good idea about Hikari's father, it could work with some of the stuff I've got all inside my head at the moment.

 **Moka:** I think I'm going to go by both the anime and the manga, since they're both so good.

 **Breebreebabygirl:** Thank you so much for your review, I'm really glad you liked it. I hope you also like this chapter too!


	10. Gangs, Knives and Martial Arts, Part 2

True to her hyperactive, bubbly self, my mother calmed down reasonably quick and was happily chatting away, easily holding both sides of the conversation while both myself and Zero nodded and occasionally provided the appropriate noises of acknowledgement.

Due to us having literally no food in our entire house now that collecting groceries had failed, we called quits and ordered takeaway instead.

That didn't stop my mother from bustling about to make us hot chocolate.

Perched on the counter, my heels were clicking against the cabinet doors as I swung my legs. Usually I would get scolded for this, but apparently almost dying gave me some kind of magical ticket to get away with absolutely everything. Zero was next to me, elbows propped up on the smooth surface, eyes half lidded, barely concentrating. He hadn't uttered a word in five whole minutes, which was usual for him.

In a rare moment of silence, he leaned in a little closer. "Is she normally like this?" He asked, his disbelief evident.

"Like what?" I whispered back, slyly.

"Like she's hyped up on a mix of red bull and crystal meth?" He offered reasonably, voice threadbare with exhaustion.

I tapped my finger against my chin as I considered this. "Pretty much."

Our conversation was interrupted by the appearance of two mugs of warm goodness, which I gratefully nursed in my hands. Zero took a lethargic swig. One eye slowly cracked open and focused on me as he burned his lips with another quick gulp. "Damn, this is good." He said, appreciatively, far louder than he intended.

My mother laughed warmly.

Zero blushed and disappeared behind his mug, stooping down to fuss over Tabby when she meowed indignantly and stubbornly wound herself around his legs. She quietened once settled in the crook of his elbow, nuzzling her face quite happily into his neck, her furry body trembling as she purred. I was forced, with much difficultly, to bite my lip to stop myself from smiling. They were both so precious; which wasn't exactly a word I thought I'd ever use to describe 5"3, brash, confident Zero. But, when that cocky jerk-with-a-heart-of-gold is snuggling so innocently with a kitten like it was the coolest thing in the world, there really wasn't anything else I could call it.

The boy in question glanced over at me, cheeks still flushed, smiled so tentatively I just wanted to melt, and lowered his gaze just the slightest amount so he was looking up through his eyelashes; thick, black lashes that some girls would kill to have. Not, that I'd especially taken notice of them. "What?" He asked, flicking his hair away from his eyes with a quick shake of his head. "Is there something on my face?"

"No, I just thought you looked-" Cute, was what I was going for. I swiftly avoided that trainwreck, though, with the eloquent wording which I am known for. "Hot." Nailed it. "In that jacket! Because you, um, didn't take it off. And it's hot in here." I was five seconds away from ending it all with the steak knife on the counter. Unfortunately, my mother saw the offensive weapon and subtly moved it out of my reach.

On the other hand, Zero, completely oblivious to my growing embarrassment, was halfway to rolling across the floor in his hysterics. Of course, _he_ would find this hilarious. Moron.

Tabby pawing at his face was enough to sober him up.

He drained his mug, evidently enjoying it by the way I caught him discretely trying to lick the dregs. He pouted when I frowned, puffing his cheeks up childishly and placing the mug down on the side, using both arms to support Tabby as she roamed up to his shoulders. "That's a bad idea." He stated, with monumental understatement.

After letting him know on no uncertain terms that if anything happened to my kitten, I would break him, Zero's eyes were a little wider than usual as he plucked her from where she was attempting to scale to his head and cradled her in his arms.

Zero's expression softened. He lifted Tabby and rubbed his nose against hers, before gently handing her to me. "I should go. Ichii's probably worried about me."

I nodded slowly, pretending to be downcast. Zero slipped his hands under my arms and lifted me from the counter, grinning cheekily at the indignant scowl that said I could've done it myself. My mother collected him up in a hug and squeezed him a little too tight, before releasing him. "It was nice meet you, Zero. I've heard a lot about you," He smirked from the corner of his mouth and waggled his eyebrows at me while my mother was distracted with relieving me of Tabby. "Are you sure you can make it back on your own? I can take you back, it wouldn't be any trouble."

"Nah, don't worry about it, I'll be fine. I'm a fast runner, anyway." He offered one of his most charming smiles. "Thanks for the offer, though." He gave Tabby one last scratch behind the ear, which turned into a minute of petting when she shoved her head into his hand. He was laughing as he stepped away, shooting me a covert wink which I only just managed to catch. "See you at school, then?"

I nodded dumbly. He grinned, mock saluted, and left, jogging off into the darkness. I waved, because that was what was expected of me, and quickly shut the door. My mother was smiling fondly as I turned to face her.

"He seems like a nice boy."

"He is." I agreed, loyally, hurrying upstairs at a pace that was swift but would not cause suspicion. I was quite surprised to find Ichii sitting at the top, tucked just out of sight. He seemed to be just as surprised to seem me hurtling up towards him. Unfortunately, I was a klutz and promptly face-planted the carpet. Only I could manage that. _Obviously._

If Zero had still been present, he would've surely laughed at my expense. Since it was Ichii, he merely face-palmed, briefly considered his life choices, and carefully pulled me back to my feet, his eyes assessing me for any injuries, aside from the huge dent in my pride. I reassured my mother than I was fine, which took her far longer to believe than I had anticipated, before thanking Ichii. He returned the gesture with a tight-lipped smile. Wordlessly, he followed me into my room. He remained a step behind me as I opened the window, inhaling sharply and grabbing the back of my shirt as I leaned out a little too far for his comfort in the search for the familiar mop of blue hair.

"Zero?" A shadow moved below me. Zero gave a lazy wave and shimmied up the drainpipe. I ducked out of his way, only he didn't follow me through. He was hanging just below me, a sheepish expression on his face when I poked my head back out. "What's going on? Aren't you coming in, Zero? It's cold outside."

Zero flinched and averted his eyes. Ichii was looming over my shoulder. I shifted uncertainly, as the bluenette wilted in his uncomfortable position. "Actually, I think I'm going to stay out here for a little while." He mumbled, eyes flitting up from a split second to asses Ichii's expression. Hanging his head even lower, Zero seemed to shrink considerably under one of the most furious glares I had ever seen. It was needless to say, I was quite surprised it was coming from Ichii, of all people. "On second thought..." Meekly, Zero crawled through the window and perched on the ledge, his eyes focused intently on his feet.

"Zero." Ichii extended a shaking finger to the closet and watched the boy with a smouldering glare as the blue-haired boy shuffled over and reluctantly entered.

Biting my lip, I grabbed Ichii's upper arm, holding him back. "Ichii-"

"You could've died." My hand dropped to my side. There was a certain tremor in Ichii's voice that was especially concerning. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, exhaled, and followed Zero into the room, the violence which he used to close the door the only sign of his anger.

I couldn't hear anything that was happening in there. Which, I wasn't entirely sure whether it was good or bad. Instead of worrying, I curled up on my window seat, all cocooned in blankets with my favourite book. I wasn't exactly sure how long I sat there for, with the only noise the quiet scraping as I flipped the pages. Very soon, it was too dark to read by the wan rays of light creeping in from the dying sun, so I closed my book and settled it next to me, my gaze falling to where the boy's unit was secretly held.

My mother called from downstairs.

The food had arrived.

After hesitating, I answered her and promised to be down soon.

Soon being the operative word, as I slunk across to make a quick visit to Zero, who I assumed would be sulking by now.

Leaning against the closet door, I knew I had to approach this delicately. The room had been unnervingly silent for quite a while. I had, at one point, wondered whether Ichii had actually gone ahead and killed Zero; it seemed to be the only logical reason for the unnatural silence. Thankfully, I managed to banish the ridiculous thoughts fairly quickly.

I knocked a couple of times, frowning when I received no reply. The door creaked in the most insufferably exaggerated horror movie style as I cracked it open. At first glance, the room appeared to be deserted. The faintest sound of running water was audible, but that appeared to be the only thing that was making even the slightest amount of noise.

I mentally reminded myself to approach the situation carefully and calmly as to not overwhelm him.

"Zero? Are you in here?" The lump on the bed shifted slightly. Zero propped himself up on his elbows, blearily blinking as he attempted to focus on my tentative form. After a couple of long seconds, he registered my presence, _sighed,_ pulled the blankets high over his head and rolled over. Huffing, I crossed my arms over my chest and marched over. "Listen here you little brat."

Nailed it.

"Little?" Zero spluttered indignantly, furiously tossing the blankets aside. Apparently the fond nickname of _brat_ was somehow less offensive than the accusation of being vertically challenged. "May I remind you that I am taller than you?"

"No, you may not."

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Zero exhaled loudly to collect himself. "What do you want?"

Suddenly shy, I shifted awkwardly and scuffed my foot across the floor. "Honestly? It's kind of stupid. I'm probably just being childish but... I just... Want you to look at me. To talk to me. Ever since you came back through the window, you've been avoiding me. I screwed up majorly, but it did work in the end, I suppose. You're finally looking me in the eyes." I twirled a raven lock around my finger, nervous from Zero's contemplative silence. "Ichii... He wasn't too hard on you, right?"

"He was fine." Zero slowly sat up, legs crossed neatly beneath him. "You don't have to worry, he didn't shout at me. He doesn't have to. Ichii has the remarkable talent of making people feel like absolute crap without ever raising his voice. Especially when it's _me_ and I do something stupid and _know_ that it was stupid... Today, was a whole lot of stupid on my part..."

"Zero?" He glanced up, his blue eyes locking on to my cerulean orbs. "You look a little pale. Are you okay?"

"No." He said, exhaling heavily. "I'm not. I feel like absolute trash and looking at you is making me feel worse. God, I screwed up, okay? I'm a screw up! It's not like it's anything new. I didn't listen to you, I thought _I_ knew better and because of that you could've been seriously hurt." His hands were curling into fists around the blankets and expression was tight, pinched, more sombre than I'd ever seen. "Why aren't you yelling at me? It only makes me feel worse. You're still a little ray of sunshine after everything I just put you through. You're so concerned about _me_ when I almost got you killed not even two hours ago. So why? Why is that?"

"Because you didn't mean to."

"That's not even a proper reason."

I tilted my head, thoughtfully tapping my finger against my chin as I crossed my legs beneath me. "Well, how about; I chose not to." I said, simply. "I could be yelling and screaming at you, I could throw things and try to hurt you, but I don't want to. Partly because doing it won't get me anywhere, but mostly because I know that you never intended to put me in any danger. It wasn't as though you'd walked in there having already planned for me to get hurt, was it?"

"Of course not," He said, sounding a little breathless as he awkwardly picked at the hem of his sleeve. "I'd never do that."

"Exactly. That's the reason why I don't feel the need to go berserk. Don't get me wrong, though, it's not as though I'm not mad at you. I'm furious. You were ignorant, you purposely ignored me and because of that you put us in a very tight spot. I could've been hurt, you did get hurt, those boys were most definitely hurt. All because you thought better. Do you understand that?"

Zero inhaled sharply and nodded, his eyes glued firmly to the floor. "Yeah. I get it."

"You're not the only one at fault though. I did follow you, after all. And I suppose I can't be too angry, you redeemed yourself in the end." He stared back, blankly. "You got us out of there, didn't you? You remained level-headed, saw your opportunity and you took it. You protected me from three much order, stronger men and even managed to swipe my card back without being spotted. You did all of that and more. It's natural to make mistakes. But not many people can crawl out of a situation like that relatively unscathed. Especially when you had me to worry about, too."

He smiled tentatively, a fleeting, hopeful action that melted my heart. Raking his teeth across his bottom lip, he mumbled an almost incomprehensible apology. I was tempted to test the limits of his patience, but a slightly embarrassed Zero was much easier to deal with than a berserk one, so I wisely decided against it.

"Apology accepted."

His eyes flashed with relief.

"You should go. Wasn't that Asahina-san calling you earlier?"

 _Damn! She's probably wondering where the hell I am._ With sudden urgency, I bolted upright, already jogging towards the door. "And, hey, I'll get some paracetamol for you when I come back up." Zero's expression flitted to poorly disguised shock as he started at me in mild astonishment. My lips tugged up into a sly smile. "I noticed."

* * *

The next day was a Sunday. My mother usually had the weekend, along with Tuesday and half of Thursday off from work. I was very vigorous about her sticking to this schedule. When she was out of my sight, I knew for a fact that she worked herself to exhaustion. However, on this particular day, I didn't make much of a fuss as she whisked herself away to cover for a colleague. While I disapproved, this selfless action did present me with the perfect opportunity to disappear for an unspecified amount of time without having a nationwide manhunt initiated. All in all, it was a win-win situation.

After making a fuss of Tabby, I scooped her up and bounded up the stairs two at a time- which wasn't very sensible, considering the last time I did this I almost rearranged all my facial features- and silently slipped into the boy's until. Tabby was purring loudly and rubbing her head affectionately against my chin. I winced and shot a small, worried glance towards the still sleeping form of Ichii, who was cocooned in at least three different blankets of varying thickness. Thankfully he didn't stir.

Releasing a small sigh of relief, I made my way into the living room and closed the door soundlessly behind me, then promptly dropped Tabby- who hissed indignantly, took a small swipe at my ankle, and skittered onto the couch- when I turned and found Zero standing directly in front of me. Eyes widening, he clamped a hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing as I, showing an immense lack of grace, collapsed back onto my butt and clutched at my chest, heart thumping a mile a minute, mouth spewing a jumble of incoherent words.

"Don't do that!" I finally managed to whisper, in a sharp, breathless voice. "Are you trying to kill me? You scared me half to death!"

He bit this lip, iris' dancing with amusement and he nodded with a reasonable amount of seriousness. I gratefully accepted the hand he offered me and was very swiftly back on my feet, cheeks puffed up as I pouted, while Zero tried very hard not to grin under my withering glare. "Jerk." I said, crossing my arms over my chest with a loud huff.

He snickered and pinched my cheek. "I can deal with that." I swatted his hand away and glared harder. He only grinned in return. "Let's start, okay?"

Sighing, I nodded wearily. "Okay. But we have to be quiet, don't we? Ichii's still asleep."

Zero shrugged, with an air of complete nonchalance. "Not necessarily," He tapped his nose at my confused expression and gestured for me to follow him towards a door that I hadn't ever noticed before, possibly because it was hidden behind the stand where the boys draped their coats. Frowning lightly, I stopped in my tracks and studied him intently. However, before I could voice my question, Zero had already provided an answer. "Patience, grasshopper, all will be revealed soon."

I snorted and rolled my eyes. "You know, acting all wise doesn't suit you." I teased and quickly ducked inside the room before he could pull me into a headlock.

Zero closed the door behind us.

I blinked in utter disbelief, slowly turning in a wide circle. "You've got to be kidding me."

"What?" Zero asked, arms crossed as he fixed me with a level look. "So an entire apartment in your closet is cool, but as soon as you seen the gym, you're surprised? There's no logic to that."

I considered this for a moment, and then shook my head minutely. It was probably a good thing that I bit down hard on my lower lip to prevent myself from retorting that it wasn't even the norm for _houses_ to arrive with a fully-functional gym equipped in the basement, let alone apartments. Instead, I snapped the band off my wrist and tied my raven locks back into a loose ponytail that swayed with my movements. "So, where do we begin?"

Zero grinned cheekily and cracked each knuckle in turn. The noise was sickening, but I forced myself not to cringe. "I figure we'll start on punches and work our way up from there. That sound good?" I nodded determinedly. Zero laughed and ruffled my hair, before nudging my feet into a more comfortable stance, his hand steadying me on the hip when I teetered dangerously.

I followed as well as I could manage as he demonstrated the punches with practised ease, making my clumsy attempts feel awkward and disjointed. His movements were swift and powerful, holding an effortless grace that I could only dream of possessing. Before too much time had passed, he was rocking back on his heels and studying me with a critical eye as I struck out at the air in rhythmic motions. When he stepped forward, I faltered. He made a disapproving noise in the back of his throat and I felt my face heat up with embarrassment.

"Here," His voice was clear and smooth as chocolate. His hands were raised, palms out, facing me. "Punch them. It'll help with your accuracy."

I frowned and eyed his palms in trepidation. "Are... you sure?"

Zero nodded. It was a confident, decisive motion. "Yeah. If you're worried about hurting me, then don't be. I do this with Ichii all of the time. Trust me, he packs a whole lot more of a punch than you do right now-" Zero stumbled at my suddenly downcast expression. "Not that you'll stay that way, of course. With time and effort, you could be just as good." I raised my fists and he immediately stopped babbling. It went on like this for more than half an hour. Me punching, Zero dishing out improvements. He didn't lavish me with praise, but I found that when he dished out even a few good words, they were honest and sincere. Because of that, I trusted him.

The door opened and Ichii stumbled in, Tabby in his arms, rocking the worst bedhead I had ever seen him with. He squinted, shook his shaggy head, and after realising that made little difference, blearily combed his hair away from his eyes. Zero had his hand clamped over his mouth to stop himself from laughing. "Dude, you look like hell. Hold on, I'll go make you some coffee."

Ichii exhaled softly and slumped against the wall, muttering incoherent words of gratitude as Zero left. The bluenette poked his head back around the door approximately two seconds later, startling Ichii more than he would care to admit, with an infectiously smug grin in place. "Yo, keep practising, alright?" I acknowledged this by flashing him a quick thumbs up. While I did as instructed, Ichii watched with startling intensity from his position, and after allowing Tabby to roam freely across the floor, he never appeared to move once. It was more than a little unnerving, but after a little while, I tuned him out.

The brunette perked up considerably with the mug of steaming coffee nestled in his hands and chose to perch on the balance beam off to my left, sipping infrequently as he studied us with mild interest, while I silently cursed him and his abundant grace. How he managed to make that look effortless while being so obviously tired was beyond my comprehension.

"What?" Zero demanded, his voice sharp as he caught my fist in his hand.

Ichii raised a single eyebrow, looking like the embodiment of innocence. Tabby casually swatted at his foot.

Zero rolled his eyes and gave an aggravated sigh. "Damn, you're so annoying." He released my hand. "Continue." My eyes flicked to both boys in a moment of hesitation, before I obeyed. We stopped not two minutes later, Zero seeming to be far more tense than the first time. "Look, if you've got something to say, then say it. You know I hate it when you hold back."

Ichii considered this for a moment and took a very deliberate sip of his coffee. Setting the mug gently down beside him, he slipped silently down to the ground with catlike grace. "You're doing it wrong." He said, perhaps a little too bluntly. A muscle jumped in Zero's jaw, but he said nothing. "Her form is garbage. With a stance like that, any punch will be no more than a love tap." Guiltily, I adjusted my feet into what I assumed to be the appropriate stance. Since Zero hadn't looked at me once, I couldn't be certain.

"You haven't finished," Zero stated, which was uncomfortably accurate. "Keep going."

"You need to quit playing patty cake with her. That exercise may be good for us, but it's not for her. You can't use the same methods that you do to grow stronger, she's not going to become a boxer." Ichii had kicked off the beam and strolled closer while he was speaking, ruffling my hair, he finally allowed himself to shoot my a reassuring smile. "Zero, look at her. She's a women, very slim and petite at that. Her strength is in her core, her hips and legs. I agree that she can fight. Honestly, I think she'll be damn good in a couple of years time, but not if you train her like this. Punching utilises her weakest muscles and bone groups; it's a waste of time."

Contrary to what I expected, Zero didn't explode into a fit of rage. In fact, he took the news reasonably well. Flexing his arms behind his head, he laughed shallowly. "Damn it all. What do you suggest then, O mighty one?"

Ichii shrugged. "I'm not the one that's training her. You are." Zero growled low in his throat. I shot him a wary look and took a precautionary step to the side. He didn't seem to notice. "I'll only help if she agrees. Trust me, Hikari, it'll be hell. I don't go easy, Zero knows that much."

I jutted my chin out self-importantly. "I can handle it." The brunette raised his eyebrow in a small arch. "I can handle it." I repeated, icily.

Ichii considered this for a moment, accepting my words in casual silence. "You asked for it. Just try to keep up. Zero, first of all we need to improve her stamina. I'll take her jogging every few days, further each time until I can get her going every day. On Sunday she goes up on the balance beam with me. By improving her speed and agility, she'll be more able to dodge attacks. Every two days, she spars with you. Teach her kicks first and once she seems stronger, give her a couple of punches. She's not going to be as strong as us, no matter how hard she trains, but if she's fast, she'll pack a decent punch. Knowing her, she'll be resourceful and use her opponents strength against them."

"You're taking her, right?"

Ichii nodded swiftly, throwing back the rest of his coffee in one quick gulp. "Come on, Hikari."

"Taking me where, exactly?" I asked, scooping Tabby up tottering after him like a lost puppy.

"Jogging. Put on some comfortable trainers and wait by the front door." After leaving Tabby in my room, I did as I was told, wondering what circle of hell my soul would descend to. Ichii came clattering down some time after, changed out of the faded shirt and shorts he slept in, hair noticeably more tamed. He must have noticed me staring at the small bag slung over his shoulder, as he shrugged it off and opened it wide for me to see inside.

Medical supplies, high energy food bars and sports drinks.

He chuckled at the alarmed look on my face. "Don't lose your nerve, it's just a precaution."

That wasn't exactly reassuring. I tried to nod like I understood, but just achieved some sort of seasick look. He patted me on the head. "Ready?" I grimaced awkwardly. He smiled cheerfully in return. "Brilliant, let's go."

The first five minutes were tiring, but nothing I couldn't handle. The sky was fairly clear, it was warm and the air was fresh. Ichii said it was the perfect weather for running. I agreed with him. At first. Very quickly, my legs began to ache. Ichii didn't slow down. He merely spared a minute glance over his shoulder and ordered me to keep up.

Panting heavily, I stumbled after him. I could see the glint of his tooth out of the corner of my eye. He was gnawing on his lower lip. If I had enough breath, I would have informed him that he was about to cut said lip open. Since I was currently suffocating, I wasn't able to. Pain suddenly flaring up my side had me struggling to even take another step. It stung and stabbed like daggers of pure poison, leaving me gasping pathetically. Ichii sighed and slowed to match my pace. "Hikari, you haven't even been going fifteen minutes."

"Be quiet," I said, between breaths. "I can keep going."

And I did.

I imagined Ichii looked somewhat impressed, but then again, I couldn't summon the energy to even glance in his direction.

"Keep going. One step at a time. We'll get to the finish line eventually."

I laughed shallowly. "What goddamn finish line?"

"Good point."

I groaned. He caught me when I tripped on the pavement. I screwed up my face, took a deep breath and continued. My ankle throbbed horribly. Ichii must have realised, although he never said anything.

Twenty Five minutes.

Ichii, damn him, didn't even appear to be tired.

I, on the other hand, was the walking personification of death.

"Look at me. We'll stop when we get to that lamp post, alright? You can make it to there, can't you?" Was that a challenge? If so, I was totally going to win.

Ichii looked so proud. Too bad I was too busy dying to really bathe in that pride. I dropped to my knees, gagging for breath. I'd never felt quite that bad in my life, not even that time I'd broken my arm at seven falling out of a tree. It was like l'd cannibalised parts of myself to stay on my feet, and now the pain and emptiness flooded into me and swamped me, and I just wanted to lie down and die.

He crouched down, all smiles and said, "Ready to head back?"

I decided right then and there that he was first on my To-Kill list.

* * *

Ichii had me sparring with Zero once we'd returned. Zero looked utterly crushed at the prospect of doing so while I appeared to be half-dead.

I spent two hours clumsily trading blows with him, while Ichii watched for the sidelines. Thankfully, he wasn't a complete monster and called for frequent breaks. Now was just one of them. Both boys were sitting on the balance beam. I remained on the floor, contently sipping the drink Ichii had provided me with.

"Do you hate me?"

I angled my head right back to look the brunette in the eye. "No. Idiot." He seemed pleased with this, and smiled softly, dropping an energy bar into my lap. I nibbled delicately on the corner, my appetite still diminished from the huge lunch Ichii had prepared for us earlier. "Why would you ask something like that?" Ichii shrugged. "You think because today has been tough, I hate you now?"

"Pretty much."

I punched his leg. "Idiot. I said I could handle it."

He sighed. "I'm so glad you said that, otherwise I would feel really bad about this." I eyed the door in all seriousness. He noticed and laughed. "That's probably a good idea. Get up." Huffing, I climbed to my feet and crossed my arms. "Zero, you too." The bluenette's eyes widened comically. "Hikari, your aim is to get to the door. We have to stop you."

"That's it?" I asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow.

"That's it." Ichii confirmed.

I smiled and flexed my arms. _Sounds simple enough._

"We're not going easy on you, though." I whipped my head around to face Ichii, alarmed. "Begin." I reeled back to avoid him, stumbling over my feet. He advanced, refusing to allow me to regain my balance. I ducked under his sweeping kick and rolled to the side, smacking straight into the wall. I released a pained cry which made Ichii visibly falter, but spotting Zero closing in on his right flank was enough to force him to regain his composure. "Focus, Hikari. Get aware of your space."

I threw myself forwards and slid across the floor, directly through the gap between the two boys. Zero quickly manoeuvred himself to be in the exact position to kick me over as I attempted to jump back to my feet. I used the momentum to roll up and over, grabbing the wall for support and ducking under Ichii's strike. I side-stepped him, eyeing the door warily.

Raising my fists, I failed to dodge his next attack. He hit me three times before I swung out of range and flicked my foot out to slam across his back. He didn't even flinch. I backed away, pirouetted on my heels and caught Zero around the neck with my foot. The momentum pushed him straight to the floor. Ichii swept my foot out from beneath me. Winded, I lay there for a moment, gasping pathetically for breath. "Get up," Ichii ordered. "People aren't nice. They're not going to wait for you to recover. Get up, Hikari."

I glared at him and did so, bouncing up and driving my head hard into his stomach. He slammed back into the floor, surprised, but unhurt. Zero picked me up from behind, arms looped under my armpits, leaving me flailing uselessly. I slammed my elbow backwards where it connected heavily with an especially fleshy area. He dropped me. I fell down into a crouch, turning quickly to retaliate. Zero's foot snapped across my chin. "Keep your guard up." He barked, as I fell back on my butt. I growled in frustration. He kicked me in the chest. I swerved to the side to avoid him, shakily standing once more.

Ichii slammed a palm into my back. I spun around, blocked his next strike, and punched him as hard as I could manage, right in the chest. It didn't even appear to startle him. Zero hit me from the side. I stumbled, clearly shocked. Ichii struck from his position in front of me. I wasn't sure which one to defend against and which one to attack. Several more strikes later and I was falling back against the wall after a particularly hard kick. I blocked Zero's rising knee with both hands and received an unblocked punch as a prize. Snarling, I punched him back, which seemed to surprise him.

I slid down and through the opening he had provided as he went to kick me. While he was off balance, I just had to worry about Ichii, who was circling me with a predatory glint in his eyes. Standing between me and the door, he lazily beckoned me over. Raising my fists, I took off running. He sunk lower into his stance, switching his weight to his back leg. That kick stopped me quickly. He struck thrice more, hard, swept my feet out and pushed me firmer into the carpet with a palm to my chest.

I instantly was struggling to my feet. Being on the floor was just about the worst possibly place to be. He put his foot on my stomach and forced me back down. I gasped and tried to wriggle out from under him. It worked, a little.

Until he hooked his foot under my ankle and forcefully pulled me across the floor towards him. He crouched down, straddled my waist and expertly caught the hands that I'd been grappling him with, pinning them against the carpet. I struggled, trying to free my hands, to do anything. But I couldn't. I was trapped. "Open your eyes." I peeked through my eyelashes. "Are you scared?"

"No." I replied, insolently, even though I was pretty sure I was shaking.

"Want me to get off?"

I flicked my hair out of my face with a quick toss of my head and made a self-important noise. "I don't care." Even though I did. Even though I was shaking. Even though I was scared.

"Don't accept it." He instructed. _"Fight._ Fight me, Hikari. Kick my ass. _Do something!_ "

"I can't." I said, in a small voice. "I _tried._ I'm not strong enough."

"Do something." He repeated, firmly. "Don't give up. You're a goddamn fighter, so _fight!_ "

I wasn't sure how long we were like that for. I valiantly doing anything I could to dislodge the boy, and Ichii never moving an inch. Until I was left lying there, panting, fighting tears and feeling utterly useless. "That's enough, Ichii." Zero took a step forward and put a hand on his shoulder. The brunette nodded and carefully climbed to his feet, lifting me up under the arms. The smaller boy chipped me underneath the chin as I hung my head in shame. "It's alright, Hikari. You did good."

"You did good." Ichii agreed.

"I wasn't strong enough." I mumbled, twisting my hands.

"Did you seriously think after training for one day that you could be anywhere near our level?" Ichii asked, softly. I silently shook my head. He ruffled my hair and brought me into a fierce one-armed hug. "You weren't meant to win, Hikari. Honestly, I didn't even think you'd do as well as you did. That test was merely to make you more aware of your surroundings. People aren't going to wait their turn in a fight, they'll ambush you all at once. You have to be prepared to work with what you've got and make sure you don't get hit. And you did. You dodged me a hell of a lot more than I thought you would be able to. You're a lot faster than I expected. How long have you been hiding that up your sleeve?"

I managed a giggle. "A while."

Zero twisted me into a headlock. I protested loudly while he affectionately rubbed his knuckles against my head. "Great job, Klutz. Pretty sure you landed a hit on me."

I tossed him off. "Of course I did." I said, smugly.

"You've got a long way to go, Hikari. You've gotta put a lot of work in. Are you prepared for it?"

My body ached all over. I could already feel the added pain from everywhere I had been hit. Despite that, I nodded determinedly. "I said I could handle it, didn't I?"

* * *

 **A/N: And that concludes my 10th chapter. It focuses heavily on fighting/martial arts and I know that doesn't interest many people but I really hope you guys liked it as it's my first arc outside of the usual anime/manga plot.**

 **Moka:** I hope you liked this chapter and that it met all your expectations. You seemed to have guessed what I've been trying to do for a little while now, hopefully this chapter will make it more obvious how they're all slowly changing each other?

 **LoveInuyasha22:** I really hope you liked this chapter, thank you for showing your support once more. I'm glad you noticed the subtle changes in Hikari and how both she and Zero are growing and flourishing as unique individuals. Well, I did feel it was a little odd how Nina's mother was always missing without a stated reason, so I decided to add reasons where necessary and include her when I felt she should be present.

 **AJPJweallluvJJ:** That's a good idea about Hikari's friends being jealous, it's already prompted many different scenarios, so thank you! Ah yes, I will probably put these two ideas together so you can see how they met during this jealousy arc. About Hikari's mother meeting Zero and Ichii, I hope this chapter explains it. I know I hadn't directly stated anything, so I hope that it's obvious that she and Zero were meeting for the first time then and that she still hadn't met Ichii before, but had heard about the both of them from Hikari.

 **Also, I'd like to give a very big thank you to everyone that has favourited and followed Hikari's Tale**


	11. Panic! At The Mid-Term Exam, Part 1

I sighed contently, savouring the heavenly taste of my cake. There was a reason this place was my favourite. I'd tried a fair few of the cakes they sold and every single one tasted amazing. Though, in my honest opinion, the best by far had to be the strawberry shortcake. Every bite was sweet and creamy and just the word delicious personified. I loved it. There was no other way to say it. I just loved it, and now I was getting the chance to share this experience with Ichii ad Zero. Just by taking fleeting glances at their faces I could tell they were enjoying it just as much as me. It was amusing to watch their expressions morph into absolute delight, just from the very first bite. Feeling a happy smile tugging at my lips, I reached for the last piece. However, before I could even touch it, the cake was pulled out of my grasp. "Hey." I said quietly, a whining note in my voice. Evidently, Zero also had his sights set on it.

"Beat you." Zero teased, poking his tongue out at me. "This piece is all mine, now!" I managed to smother my scowl before deciding to unleash my ultimate weapon. I blinked, fixing him with an unmoving stare, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks and my eyes well with tears as I allowed my bottom lip to protrude slightly in an obvious pout. Zero froze. For a moment, he was unable to look away but with a little bit of effort, he managed to.

"No. I know what you're doing and I'm not going to fall for it. Not this time. Uh-uh. No way. No way in hell." I pretended to sniffle, which caught Zero's attention and made him chance a small peek, something I could tell he instantly regretted. "Nope. It's not working. Not working! Your eyes have no effect. None at all! I am strong. I can and will defeat the puppy dog eyes."

As it turns out, he couldn't defeat them.

Fake tears gone, I happily munched on a strawberry, only half listening as Zero, now slumped in his seat, mumbled under his breath about stupid puppy dog eyes and really good guilt trips, while Ichii carefully reminded him that, despite Zero's pride, he'd never before managed to resist falling for them. I easily cut the cake in half and nudged the larger section to the edge of the plate, manoeuvring the whole thing into the centre of the table.

"Zero, here, you can have half." He bolted up in his seat, failing rather spectacularly to hide his excitement. "I was planning to split it all along, silly."

I'd never before seen anyone devour a cake quite that fast in my life. It was almost as if he thought that if he didn't hurry, I'd say I was joking and take it away from him. Which is the reason why he had cream smeared across his face, complete with a tiny blob on the end of his nose. I couldn't help but giggle as I threw him a napkin, which landed lightly in his lap. He removed most of it, while Ichii just shook his head and sighed, helping to guide him to the remaining areas. I consumed the rest of my cake at an acceptable pace, managing to avoid creating a massive mess. Obviously, that appeared to be too much of a daunting task for Zero, who left crumbs and cream everywhere.

"Uh, Zero? You've got a little something right here." I said, motioning to my nose. Zero's cheeks flushed as he quickly removed it, scowling as I laughed.

Ichii rolled his eyes good-naturally as he finished his cake, pushing back his chair as he rose to his feet, promptly ending our playful fight across the table. "C'mon, you two, quit messing around. Let's go pay." Obediently, we followed, handing over the money, taking our change and calming exiting the shop. Thankfully, both Ichii and Zero seemed to have fallen into the habit of slowing their speed to one I could easily match, so for once I wasn't really struggling to keep pace with them. "I can see why you like that place so much Hikari. You weren't lying when you said the cake was amazing."

"I bet it's the best in the whole world." I said, while Zero nodded his head in agreement. "Oh, yeah. Can we stop by the pet shop on the way home? I just remembered I need to buy some more food for Tabby. We're running out and you know she won't be a very happy kitty if she gets hungry."

"Whatever." Zero replied, offhandedly. "Just don't take too long."

I smiled.

I wasn't bothered at all by Zero's aloofness, since I already knew the reason for it. He was excited to see the lizards- something which he wanted to hide at all costs and wasn't aware that we knew. He had a pretty good plan, he'd wait around for a while, looking bored and then when he thought we weren't looking, he always slipped off to go see them. Unbeknownst to him, a while ago, Ichii had noticed Zero's disappearances and had become curious. It was fairly easy for him to coerce me into his plan to follow him. So, we secretly watched while Zero peered through the glass, his face displaying the most endearing expression of utter joy in existence. That was one of the main reasons why I made every excuse I could think of to frequently visit the shop.

So, I was quite surprised when our usual routine was rudely interrupted in the form of the wind suddenly morphing into gale-force gusts, which forced me to find a secure hold- which just happened to be Ichii's arm- in order for me to stop myself from falling backwards. My other hand was grasping at my skirt in an attempt to keep it steady. God knows how embarrassing it would be for my skirt to flip during this. The wind was so strong, it appeared to be knocking both Zero and Ichii back a couple of steps. And that was an impressive feat in itself.

"Hikari, are you alright?" I could barely hear Ichii's voice over the roaring wind, which had now helpfully formed tornadoes- and made me wonder how they were not destroying the houses nearby- but I could feel his arm snaking around my back, firmly keeping me in place, something which I was extremely grateful for. It had began to feel as if my arm would be ripped out of it's socket. Which, obviously, I was not particularly keen on.

He released me, evidently confused, as the wind just _stopped_ and surprised screams filled the air. Four people dropped out of the sky, exactly where the previously mentioned tornadoes had been just moments before. "San? Forte?" Not only that, but also Gou and Rokka, the latter instantly attaching herself to Ichii in the form of a suffocating hug.

"Oh, give me a break." Zero said, his voice highlighting his annoyance. "You guys are going to try to steal Hikari again, aren't you?"

"No way. We almost got abducted by some weirdo!" Forte exclaimed, as he examined San for injuries.

I couldn't help but edge slightly closer to Zero. A bad feeling was beginning to twist in my stomach, something which wouldn't be easily ignored. "What weirdo?" Understandably, Zero was wary and not at all impressed with this rather weak excuse.

"Excuse me. But I take offence to you calling me a weirdo." Another tornado and unnecessary evil chuckle later, a weirdo- and there was actually no other words to describe him other than as a weirdo, which meant that Forte really was right on the mark with that one- was floating in the sky. I blinked exactly three times before it even occurred to me that he was a sorcerer. It would explain the magic tricks. And the lame tornadoes. "You may address me as Will. I'm a professional-" It seemed Zero couldn't help but jump in with a quiet whisper of _weirdo,_ which almost had me doubling over in laughter. "- Sorcerer. What's more, I am an inspector sent from the Sorcery Test Headquarters."

Ichii narrowed his eyes. "Why exactly did they send you here?"

"Hey- wait. The test isn't even close to being over." Zero said. "We have until the end of the year!"

"True. You still have several months to complete your finals. But I've gathered you all here today to take a mid-term exam. And if, for any reason, you're unable to pass the mid-term today, you will be disqualified." Evidently, Zero and Ichii were pissed. It seemed as though they had been completely unaware of this. Having something so unexpected sprung on you would leave anyone angry.

"Hikari?" I flinched at my name, taking a small step backwards. I didn't trust this Will. Not one bit. True, I didn't really trust anyone, but this feeling was something raw, right in the pit of my stomach. It felt like every inch of my body was commanding me to leave right there and then. And I was inclined to obey that little voice. "Am I correct in assuming you swallowed the Crystal Pearl?" I couldn't force the words out, so instead I nodded slowly, keeping wary eyes fixed on him the entire time. "Then may I please ask for your assistance?"

I edged back again. A big, obvious step. "W-what?"

He raised himself up from his polite little bow. "You are the most important part." My hands instantly raised to defend myself. Zero quickly placed himself between us. His fists were clenched tightly as he glared. His message stood firm. _You're not laying a finger on her._ Zero rushed him, in an attempt to attack, but he was easily pushed away.

I yelled his name, concern showing clearly in my voice. Though I only managed to take two steps towards the boy before I felt a strong hand grasp my upper arm and drag me backwards, preventing me from running to his side. In a swift flick of his cape, I found myself whisked up, balancing awkwardly on top on the telephone pole. "The objective of this mid-tern is simple. You must retrieve Hikari from me by the end of the day. The team that manages to get her back by sunset will pass the mid-term exam. Those who fail to do so will be disqualified. So, good luck everyone."

I'd had enough. I'd had enough of being grabbed, being snatched away, being held captive and generally being weak. So I simply grasped his arm and bit down as hard as I could, feeling his whole body contort in a painful spasm as I did so. It didn't matter to me whether he was wearing glasses or not. He'd threatened me, so I felt it was perfectly acceptable for me to punch him straight in the face, accompanying the blow with a loud _ki-ai._ Let's just say, he wasn't expecting me to fight back. Nor was he expecting that the little 4"7 girl could punch so hard.

Having the grip on my arm released was, for a brief moment, a relief. Then I realised that I was very high up in the air. And that I was deathly afraid of heights. The force of me struggling against him had tipped me backwards and now I was teetering precariously on the edge, my arms wind-milling, a terrible scream rising in my throat as I succumbed to the fact that I was about to fall to my death. I could hear Zero and Ichii yelling below me, and while I had complete faith that one of them would catch me, I couldn't help but be terrified. My shirt was grabbed before gravity could take effect and I was tugged firmly forward.

"Let me go!" I screamed. Will merely laughed and with another flick of his cape, my sight was obscured and a sickening sense of weightlessness took hold.

* * *

As soon as my feet touched the ground I was wriggling and kicking and screaming once more. No way was I letting this happen. No way in hell. I was getting out of here. I'll show him where he can shove it if he thinks I'm just gunna sit here and play the part of the scared little girl. It was needless to say, I was extremely pleased when I managed to strike him in the chest with my elbow, spin out and giving him a nice, paralysing kick straight in the crown jewels.

After that, I didn't waste any time locating the exit and sliding down the banister. When I tried the door before me, I found that it was locked, so I doubled back and launched myself through the second one I came across, which promptly swung shut behind me with a loud clang. I'd raced down another corridor, before I figured I should look in a couple of rooms, hoping that they would lead to an exit. Unfortunately, they were all just plain offices, so I continued down the hallway, hoping to find another set of stairs. Instead, the corridor split in two, so I went left and hoped for the best. I took another left and after finding a dead end I quickly backtracked and instead choose to go right. That, I was thankful to say, was a good decision since it led to me finding another staircase.

Using the banister once more, I slid down two floors before the stairs just ended. Scowling at them and their uselessness, I took off again, searching for another way to get down. I could hear Will now. I supposed he must have been using something to magnify his voice. I ignored him. I wouldn't let him distract me. I wasn't going to play the part of the helpless little girl any more. I was going to try my best to escape. If I got caught... Well, then I'll just try again and again until I succeed. Zero and Ichii taught me how to defend myself, then taught me about courage and confidence, about trying my best and never giving up no matter how bad the situation looked. They taught me about trust too. About trusting myself, about trusting them and I about trusting others too. Well, I was going to show them. I was going to show them just how much I'd learned.

Footsteps were coming down the staircase. I didn't think, I silently opened one of the doors and disappeared inside, closing it behind me. Giving the room a quick scrutinising sweep, I rushed over to the cabinet. It was spacious and more importantly, empty, so I quickly climbed inside and shut the door so not even a sliver of light could be seen. I stayed still. I stayed silent. I waited, patiently. When I heard the door open, I stopped breathing. There was a long pause in which I assumed Will was surveying the room, before it was closed again. I allowed myself to breathe once more, though as quietly as possible. I sat there, waiting, for at least two minutes until I deemed the area safe and crawled out.

Only the texture of the floor was different. I realised my mistake far too late as Will climbed down from his own hiding place and caught the corners of the cape is his hands, lifting it- and me- off the floor. I growled and snarled and yelled, but it wasn't any use. Kicking and writhing inside his make-shift bag also didn't seem to hinder him one bit, something which I was very irritated about. Finally, he reached his destination and unceremoniously dumped me on the floor.

I instantly hissed and retreated away as far as I could. I knew I had the desperate air of a cornered animal and glaring at him was doing nothing to help. "This building looks ordinary to the naked eye but barriers surround it so that no one may enter. In other words, this is my fortified castle. And I guess that makes you my captured Princess. So, how does that sound?" I smiled sweetly. And then promptly threw my left shoe at his face, to convey exactly how I felt about that. "O-kay... That's the second time. You know, I would've thought you'd be more civil. Your behaviour is most unbecoming of a lady." In response, I threateningly held up my remaining shoe.

"Let me outta here, right now."

"Just shut up." That wasn't Will talking. My eyes were drawn down to his little black cat.

Now, thanks to everything that had happened to me over the past couple of months, my tolerance for weirdness had increased considerably. Since the boys practically lived with me, I was around Zura a lot. So, I wasn't exactly too surprised at the fact that the cat started talking to me when I'd been exposed to a talking seahorse 24/7. Weirder things had happened, after all. So, I simply glared at it. While I love animals and all, I was pretty done with everything by this point, which would explain the sass and the rudeness and generally any other vices I'd picked up from Zero.

"Zip it, cat."

"I told you to stop talking. And how dare you call me a cat! My name is Aquamarine and I'm Will's fabulous apprentice. And _I'm_ a professional Sorcerer's helper, that little seahorse your friends have is just an examinees assistant."

"Well, looks like they're here already. And so now it begins." Thankfully, Will interrupted before she could go on anything further. There was no doubt that she would boast about her excellence and what not. To be honest, I wasn't really in the mood. I didn't want to be here and I was going to get out the next chance I got. I watched, on Will's cliché little Crystal Ball the scene that was happening just outside the building and almost face-palmed as Zero ran into the magical barrier and then yelled angrily at Zura for not warning him. _Such... and idiot!_

"You should've realised that yourself, Zero." And of course, he made the same mistake again, despite both Ichii and Zura warning him. He ran straight through the hologram and hit the barrier. This time, I really did face-palm. "I suppose I have to give you at least a little credit for managing to find this place so quickly. And now, as I'm sure you're all aware, both Hikari and I are on the top floor of this building. To get to us, you have to keep your wits about you and use your abilities to overcome the traps I've set along the way to keep you from reaching the top. I wish you all good luck, because believe me you're going to need it." Surprisingly, Will very easily ignored the fact that I lobbed my remaining shoe at the back of his head.

* * *

Kudos and brownie points to anyone who saw my Lilo and Stitch reference. Also, to anyone who noticed my subtle reference to a certain American Rock band in the chapter title.

 **A/N: And that concludes my 11th chapter. This one returns to the usual anime/manga plot, though as you can see I've added my own touches which I hope you all like.**

 **Guest:** Thank you, I'm glad you liked that last chapter. I hope you like this one just as much!

 **Breebreebabygirl:** Thank you! I'm glad you're liking the story so far, I hope this chapter meets your expectations.

 **Moka:** Forget smart, you seem to be psychic! This is what, the second time you've guessed what I was doing? Yeah, the arc was just some bonding between the three and a chance for Hikari to learn some new moves, since I thought it'd be strange if she was suddenly some Kung Fu master without any prior notice. I also hated the fact that Nina just sat there and waited. Sure, it was so it could show her trust in Zero and Ichii or whatever, but she could've at least tried. I really hope you liked this chapter.

 **Crimson Moon of Darkness:** Thank you for your review! I do love it when my story brings in new people. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also, I read your Inuyasha story, and while I didn't understand much of it because I haven't yet seen the anime, you seem to be quite adept at writing. Well done!

 **AJPJweallluvJJ:** That's a good idea. If I do that though, I'll leave it until the end of the story. You wouldn't want some random data sheet popping up in the middle of it.

 **LoveInuyasha22:** I'm happy you're a fan of that chapter arc! Well, I figured Hikari would be really interested in learning all these techniques, and since she was being taught one-on-one she'd learn a lot faster. (I remember taking Karate classes when I was about 10 and I didn't really learn anything new because the younger kids took so long to grasp what they were being taught. Most mind-numbing experience of my life so far.) I'm happy you liked it! There will be a couple more arcs that are my own original ideas, so I hope you like them too. Thank you! I'm happy you can see that I'm improving. Writing this story is really helping develop my writing style and expanding my vocabulary, it's a pleasure to write!


	12. Panic! At The Mid-Term Exam, Part 2

Collecting the pendant in my hand, I allowed my fingers to slide over the smooth metal, hesitating once they brushed against the clasp. I didn't open it though. I didn't need to. Instead, I raised my hand and gently held it against my cheek, feeling the stark difference in temperature between the two. I could hear movement behind me, and figured Will was once again checking the little ball he'd placed to observe the examinees while they battled it out to reach here. I knew for a fact he wouldn't dare approach me again. Not after my whole launching both shoes, biting his arm, kicking him in an unpleasant place and scratching him across the face escapade.

But he was on high alert. I'd already put up quite a fight, what with almost worming my way away from him at the very start and escaping the room, managing to make it down a rather impressive three floors before I was caught. I had to lower his guard. So, I pretended to sulk in the corner while I gathered my bearings. I supposed my deceptive skills had improved rapidly since I'd met the boys, seeing as though Will wasn't questioning my silence at all. Sighing, I replaced my locket, teasing a few stray locks of hair away from the chain to allow it to lie comfortably around my neck once more.

I had to force myself to keep my expression fairly neutral as I glanced around the room. Will and his little cat, Aquamarine, were locked in an intense discussion. They'd chosen to situate themselves on the left side of the room too, evidently to stay close to me, though they where in the far corner, while I satisfied myself with being as far away from the windows as possible. _I need to get closer to the door._ So, I did. Will jumped up, instantly alert and closed the distance between us in a matter of seconds. I ignored him. He didn't stop me as I fluttered over to the ball, leaning right across the table and peering into it. I was immensely confused by what I saw.

"Quiz show?"

The air around me was displaced as Will moved. He was closer now, right at my side. Studying me intently, making sure I wasn't trying to make a swift exit.

"Don't try anything, Hikari." He said. I hissed, baring my teeth at him in reply. Thankfully, he got the message and backed off. _Don't try anything? Don't TRY anything? I have no name for that particular level of stupidity other than unfortunate._ I figured, while I'd really like to high-five Will right now. In the face. With a chair... It could probably wait until I'd Houdini-ed my way out of there. Probably.

So, I went back to fake-sulking. Turning smartly on my heels, I sat down on the floor with a loud _humph_ , placing myself between the door and the ball, my legs crossed and arms folded, shifting my gaze away every time Will would venture into my line of sight. Being immature seemed the right way to go. In fact, it inspired his inner-child. He was equally immature with me, and soon began completely ignoring me, which I loved. His concentration was affected, he wasn't focusing, he'd completely dropped his guard, and what's more, I'd definitely got under his skin. _Now. It's time for phase two of my master plan._

Sneaking a look at Will, I slowly climbed to my feet. He glanced over. I pulled a face and stuck my tongue out him, he glared and pulled one back before promptly turning his back to me. Fists clenched, I began pacing. Up and down. Up and down. Then left and right. Left and right. Up and around in a circle before back down again. Then pausing, right back where I started. He didn't even seem to care any more. I seized this golden opportunity and bolted. My steps were light now, seeing as though they my feet were no longer clad with bulky trainers. It allowed me to reach the door before being detected. I really had to curse those doors, for when I threw one open, it squeaked.

"Hikari!" He yelled. "Don't even bother."

I did bother, though, and continued running. Out the door and down the corridor. Not bothering with the banister, simply flying down the stairs, jumping down the last four and landing strong. I managed to burst through the correct set of doors and make it halfway down the corridor before Will caught me.

I whined. A childish, high noise that came from the back of my throat. And fought. I fought hard. Wriggling and struggling and kicking and spitting. I fought. I bit him again. I scratched at his hands and arms. I arched my back. I stomped on his toes until he lifted me high into the air. I fought. I writhed. I screamed. Screamed, like my whole body was on fire. It was purely instinctive now. I couldn't remember anything I'd be taught. I was just striking out and squirming and yelling, just hoping for the best.

He threw me over his shoulder, flinching as I hammered my fists against his back, but carried me back up to the room, all while I took up an incessant chant of _letmegoletmegoletmego_. Nothing I could do was good enough. No matter how hard I fought against him, I couldn't release myself, so when he reached his destination and dumped me on the floor, I stayed there. Lying in a crumpled, defeated heap. My chest was heaving. My heart was still pounding. Every fibre of my being was urging me to climb back up and fly at the door once more in a desperate bid for freedom, but I ignored it. _He's too fast. I have to find a way to slow him down._ Suddenly, attacking him with a chair became a lot more appealing. In an attempt to discourage the idea, I allowed myself a fleeting glance at the ball. Zero and Ichii were already proceeding to the third level.

"Yes! They should be here in no time."

"I'm not so sure about that, Hikari. For the test isn't over quite yet. There's still one final challenge they must pass. After the mental and physical obstacles, a single test remains." Scowling at him, a fixed my eyes on my friends as they burst through a door only to be faced with. A dragon. A real life, green, scaly, possibly fire-breathing reptile of mass destruction. All razor claws and serrated teeth and blood-red eyes. This thing was the stuff of nightmares. And Zero and Ichii, my precious friends, had to fight it.

"Are you insane?" I screamed. "A dragon? A freaking dragon. Dude, what is your damage?" Will approached me. I guess he was attempting to calm me down, but that action only inflicted more distress. "Get away from me!" I shoved him hard in the chest and stumbled away from him, landing hard on my rear. "Zero, Ichii, no! Don't fight that thing, I don't want you to get hurt!"

 _No. You're not doing this. I won't let you hurt yourselves. Not over me. You're not fighting that damn dragon._

I stood up. Will caught my wrists. I screamed at him. No words came out, just a long, terrible scream as I yanked out of his grasp and kicked him for the second time that day. Right where the sun doesn't shine. And then I shoved him down and bolted. Zero and Ichii weren't kidding. When they said wanting to protect somebody made you stronger, they really meant it. Wanting to protect them definitely made me stronger.

I didn't really recognise the fact that I'd made it all the way down the stairs and into the corridor until I got to the end. I paused. Hesitating, bouncing on my feet so unsure of where to go. "Zero?" I yelled, my hands cupping around my mouth. "Ichii? Where are you?" I looked both ways. Will was struggling. I could hear him cursing as he clambered down the stairs. I dashed right, realising I hadn't yet explored this direction far too late to turn back.

"Zero? Ichii?" I was lost now. Confused and disorientated in the maze of hallways.

 _How far had I gone now? How do I get back?_

My pace slowed. "Where are you?" I rotated in a small circle in a useless attempt to map my surroundings.

"Where am I?" My hand closed over my locket, right over my pounding heart.

 _Help me._

But I had to help myself. I couldn't rely on others. I had to become independent.

I heard footsteps. "Zero?" I asked, hopefully. But then I saw sense and ducked around the corner. Straight into the figure. Instantly, my arms were yanked backwards and I was lifted up. I screamed in protest. "Put me down!" Will didn't listen. "Zero! Ichii!"

"I must say, I'm pretty disappointed in this years examinees."

"What're you talking about? Screw you, you don't know anything! Zero and Ichii are awesome. You got it? They're _awesome_! They're going to find me, do you hear? They're going to find me and they're going to kick your ass, you idiot. There so awesome, they could've done this stupid test with their eyes closed. And if you think anything's going to stop them then you're dead wrong. Dead. Wrong. Do you understand? They're strong. They're powerful. Nothing can stop them. Not this stupid test, not the other examinees. Nothing! Not. Even. You."

"I'm not so sure."

"Bite me." I spat back, slamming my hand into his arm. Damn, was Zero rubbing off on me. Screw you and bite me in the same conversation? There was no doubt that I was positively leaping levels in sass. "Look, you clearly don't know who you're screwing with. Let me go, right now, and I'll see if they're kind enough to let you live, you scum-sucking piece of dirt. If not, I'll glad allow them to break every bone in your worthless body." We'd navigated our way back to the stairs. I struggled intensely.

Will didn't hesitate. Back up and into the room, he pushed me away. Blocking the entrance. "If you're sure that you're right, then let's see." I backed away from him, raising my hands to protect myself. _What's he doing? Why is he coming over here? Stay away!_ "Let's test your trust." His finger was against my lips, hand grasping my wrist to keep me in place. _No. Stop. Leave me alone!_ I opened my mouth to scream. No sound came out. I clutched my throat, staring at Will, unblinking, my eyes focused on the ball of light he held in his hand. It was a strange thing, soft, pulsating and glowing a pretty faint blue colour. Instantly, I reached out for it, but he simply raised his hand high over my head. I knew instantly that thing was important.

And as I failed once more to talk, I caught on to what he'd done.

 _My voice. That's what it is. He stole my voice. And he's planning something. I have to get it back, now!_

"What'd you have to say now?" _Jerk! You are so lucky I can't speak right now. The colourful things I want to say would make your ears bleed!_

You see, I didn't exactly hate Will. But if he was on fire and I had water. I'd drink it.

"And now we'll finally see if you can trust your friends as much as you think you can." _Oh, we'll see all right. Somebody's gunna get a nice old beat down._ He clicked his fingers and for the first time, I really watched as he addressed Zero and Ichii with his little astro-projection-thingy. "Well, Zero and Ichii, Hikari is calling to you. Come to her. Try to save her."

I glared at Will and dived forward, striking out at him, beating useless against his chest. _Give it back! Give it back! I want my voice, you jerk. You'll see just how sassy I can be. And I'm so hitting you with that chair, moron! How dare you steal my voice. How dare you!_ The doors slammed open. I stopped, turning to face my friends. "Are you okay?" Zero asked. _Zero! Ichii, you found me. Thank god._

My hand grasped my collar, pulling at it in order to give me more air, shifting my weight as I forced myself to speak. It was, of course, to no avail. _He stole my voice!_ I pointed back at Will, my voice only weird gasps and choking noises. _I'm too small, help me get it back! Please?_ Zero gasped, shocked. "Hikari?"

"She can't talk." Will stated. _No thanks to you, cape boy._ "She made a pact with me-" _How many spoonfuls of Liar did you have this morning?_ "I've agreed to let you pass the test, in exchange for Hikari's voice." I almost face-palmed at Ichii's shocked- _It's can't be!_ I settled with sighing and rolling my eyes. _Since I'm currently unable to to speak, yes, Ichii it apparently can be._ "The deal is final. Now, take your friend back. Here-" He shoved me. I gasped and stumbled forward, tripping up and landing right in Zero's arms. I tugged on his shirt to gain his attention and shook my head, waving my arms around. He couldn't think I didn't believe in him. _Damn you, Will. I'd drink that water ten times over. You're so going to pay for this. Heavily. With screaming._

"What're you saying?" Zero's voice was so gentle. I felt tears of frustration prickling at my eyes. I forced them back down, along with the lump that had risen in my throat. "I don't understand, Hikari. What is it?"

 _You do. Please, tell me you do, Zero. Can't you see? I never made a deal with that jerk. I was attacking him! When you came in, I was attacking him. I was trying to get my voice back. God, you're so... impossible, sometimes. I believe in you two. You know that! I always have. And can't you see? I'm all red. My cheeks are flushed, Zero. Notice it. I've been running, you big stupidhead. It means I tried to escape. That I tried to find you._

"She saw that you were struggling when you were battling the dragon, so Hikari begged be to stop the examination. She thought that you couldn't defeat the dragon-" _That's it. You're in dangerous territory now, Will. You will be having a nice shoe imprint on your face in a minute._ "So she gave her voice in exchange for your lives." _Look here. I don't think you'll believe him, but if you do, you'll be getting hit with the shoe as well. You know I believe in you guys. I've proved that often enough._ "She really is quite a sweet little girl-" _I'll show you how sweet I am, buddy. How 'bout I start by shoving that crystal ball of yours. Right. Up. Your. Ass?_ "Thanks to her, you two have passed. Well done."

"Man. This isn't good at all." I could feel the anger radiating off Zero, in big, dark waves. To be honest, it scared me. I couldn't tell who it was aimed at, though I figured it would be Will, who, in my opinion, totally deserved some ass-kicking right about now. _Z-Zero... Don't flip out on me. I-I didn't do anything. Oh god, seeing you seriously pissed is terrifying._ "We made a promise to her, to protect Hikari, no matter what." I wanted to place my hand on his shoulder, to see whether it would help calm him, but I was frightened he might just push me away.

"Yeah, but even if we pass the test, if Hikari isn't safe, it's pointless."

"Enough! We're not gunna let you get away with this, you slimebag." _Yeah! You go, Zero! You tell him._ "So why don't you give her voice back, already?"

"Come, come. Relax," Will said and I tensed. _That faux-calm voice ain't fooling them, buddy. They're out to kill, they are. Wait. Wait a minute. Hey, where's my shoes?_ I searched and found them, not too far away. "You have until sunset to retrieve her voice and, since I'm feeling generous, I'll give you two options to chose from." _This doesn't sound good. The old two-option route. Neither are going to be desirable, we can be sure of that._ "Hikari's voice is right here. If you like, I can give it to you now and call the whole thing off. But then, you two would have to drop out of the sorcery test for good." _That's it! You're dead. How dare you threaten their dream like that! Oh, I am going to enjoy this._ I left Zero's side and collected my shoes, though nobody was really looking at me. Ichii didn't even flinch as I sidled back up next to him. "So, what will it be? Sorcery or her? It's your move. Are you going to finish the test, or give Hikari her voice back? Tell me."

"Well then," Zero said, his voice cold and hard. "I guess we have no choice. We made a promise to Hikari and I'm not about to break it. I guess we..."

"Want both!" They exclaimed, completely in sync. _You go! Take him down, you guys! You can do it!_ Ichii motioned me over and since I really didn't feel like dying today, I quickly flitted to stand behind them. Their magic was pretty powerful stuff, especially when they were annoyed. Zero fired his trusty Magic Cannon, and Ichii his Doppler Capsule. _Yes! Get him._ To my dismay, both were blocked. It seemed effortless, really, how Will just raised his hand to disintegrate the attacks. _No way. He can't be that strong! Right?_ I took a quick note of their expressions. Both Zero and Ichii looked ruffled, but determined.

They shared a small nod. All of a sudden, the fireballs and magic went flying, and I seriously feared for my safety, so I dived to the ground; my scream of terror twisted into an unrecognisable mess. There was a lull in the fight, in which I heard the familiar sound of my name. I peeked out from behind my hair to spot the culprit. Zero was calling to me, his hand outstretched. I raised myself up and flitted over to him, tripping over the uneven ground caused by the explosions and falling heavily into his arm. He winced, but gently guided me behind him, where I stayed, hands grasping his shirt, head resting between his shoulder blades. I couldn't tell whether I was shaking or not. To be honest, I couldn't care less.

I drew closer. The heat was unbearable, pressing down on me from all sides. My body was engulfed, trapped in wave after wave of insufferable heat. My eyes stung, my head throbbed. The air was laced with acrid smoke that seemed to burn all down my throat and settle in my lungs, stabbing me with pain. The sound was intense. Bursts of noise that almost seemed to deafen me. The ground had almost fully cracked by now. Most of the ceiling was destroyed. If I bothered to look, I could see into the next room.

I didn't though. My eyes never left the very interesting sight of Zero's shirt. He was cursing now. And panting. His shoulders heaving with the effort. _Will must be really strong._ "Zero. Focus your techniques on me-" _What? Ichii, how many spoonfuls of INSANE have you had today? That's crazy. Even Zero thinks so!_ "It'll be fine. I have an idea, I'll make it work." Zero was protesting again, his voice weak, uncertain. But it wasn't really like they had anything other ideas to go with. Ichii merely silenced him with the wave of a hand and a reassuring smile. "It's all right, you can trust me."

"Okay," Zero said, a more confident note creeping into his voice. "Just don't blame me when it all goes wrong." He took a deep breath, steeling his nerves, steadying himself. He glanced behind to address me first. "You might wanna step back a little bit." I didn't just step back, I stumbled back and crouched right down, my hands covering my head, sheltering behind a small mound in the floor. "Right, Ichii. Let's hope this thing works. Destruction Magic: Magic Cannon! Take that, Ichii." I gasped.

My hands flew to cover my eyes. _Oh. I can't watch! Please, work. What ever you're planning, Ichii. Let it work._

I peered through my fingers as I heard Ichii's rather triumphant voice. "Gotcha. You fell for it." Ichii appeared to have caught Zero's attack inside his little capsule. Even from this distance, I could see inside it was concentrated, furiously circling around the enclosed space. _Oh. Oh! I see now._ And I did see. The force had built up, increasing the attack's power tenfold. Even Will was no match for it. He was struck and I was forced to avert my eyes from the brilliant flash of light which followed. I found him slumped against one of the interior walls, far across the other side of the room.

"I've got it! It's your voice." Zero yelled, his fist closed into a tight ball. He glanced up, a brilliant smile set upon his features and locked gazes with me, the ecstasy obvious in his expression. They'd crossed the distance in a matter of seconds, so quickly, in fact, I hadn't yet pulled myself together, though gladly took the hand Ichii offered me. "Swallow this, Hikari." Zero said, his hands cupped over the tiny blue ball, still pulsating, like the beating of a heart.

Having reached out, I hesitated and chanced a small, uncertain look at my friends who both nodded encouragingly- then I did as Zero instructed. I swallowed it. My throat felt warm, a little tickly, but not uncomfortable. "Z-Zero?" I gasped, a hand fluttering to my chest. "Zero, Ichii! My voice. It's back! Look, I can speak again!"

"I'm glad that you're safe, Hikari." Ichii said, and smiled his gentle, calming smile, brimming with pleasant warmth.

"Thank you. But, I'm glad you two are safe. That dragon looked pretty scary. It was huge! I was terrified just looking at it, though you two were so calm. Even if I couldn't break out, I knew you'd defeat it. I knew you'd find me. Always. I think you two are awesome!" I flew at them and embraced them, a sudden, almost awkward kind of thing. At first Zero was tense, startled by my unexpected attack, but then both he and Ichii relaxed and melted into the hug and I felt their strong arms around my back, gently squeezing me. It was nice. It was calm and comforting and _safe._ I felt safe. Well and truly protected, right there in their arms. "Zero, Ichii, you two mean so much to me, you know?"

"We know." Zero said, his voice so soft and sweet it almost brought tears to my eyes. "Just like we knew you had faith in us this whole time."

When Will climbed to his feet and scolded the boys on their recklessness, I flinched and edged slowly behind Zero. My discomfort didn't go unnoticed by Ichii, who ended it by keeping his arms wrapped tightly around me, quelling any fears I may have been feeling about getting snatched away once more. Impressed while he was, the boys had played a dangerous game, though Will noted it wouldn't have succeeded without the trust both Zero and Ichii had in each other. They were special. They were powerful. He could see that now. And he passed them. My precious friends passed their mid-term examination with flying colours and my urge to hit Will with that chair slimmed down considerably.

And, because he was _such an amazing guy_ Will decided he would allow the others to pass as well, since they showed such determination and simply refused to give up. He respected their persistence and could see just how hard they would work to achieve their dream. The more the merrier, after all. With a little flourish of his hands, they dropped down from thin air, onto the floor, startled yells escaping their lips. I jumped. It was enough for Ichii to release me, allowing me to tease forward a couple of steps, assessing their condition. Will left everyone behind, fairly befuddled, with a small farewell. "So, does that mean we passed the test, Fo?" San asked.

"Yeah." Cheers of relief were uttered from everyone present.

"Hey, Hikari." San said. _Oh, I really don't like her tone_. "Do you wanna play a game?" Eyes widening, I backed away, frantically shaking my head.

"You mean, you guys are actually going to continue to chase me? After all of this? You've gotta be kidding me!" And after the bombshell that they would not be stopping, ever, I clung to Zero's arm, practically hugging it to my chest, well and truly hiding behind him now. "Whaaaat? Ever? Ever is such a long time~"

Zero and Ichii merely laughed. A happy, carefree laugh that made my heart swell with joy.

* * *

 **A/N: And that concludes my 12th chapter. This one returns to the usual anime/manga plot, though as you can see I've added my own touches which I hope you all like. Also, I've been reading outside my usual genre-stuff, and I've come to a Young Adult series which I really love, where all the main characters are incredibly sassy, you can probably see has flourished in my writing. Not really sure if making Hikari that sassy was a good idea, but I'll go with it for now. Tell me what you guys think, okay? Should I tone it down? Or should I amp the sass up a little?**

 **LoveInuyasha22: Boom! Another fan! Though I'm really more of a My Chemical Romance kind of girl, you know what I mean? No worries, you've got a lot on your plate, I'm just happy you liked it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this!**

 **Moka: It was mostly suggested trust, I must admit. I figured that it was really trying to do Nina justice by reinforcing the 'trust' she had that Zero and Ichii would find and rescue her. It would be really interesting to know what you find eccentric about Hikari, I have a feeling I'd have a lot of fun playing around with that. The struggle is real when writing for Hikari. Zero and Ichii are pretty easy, seeing as though their characters are already mapped out. I just don't want her to be boring or be so amazing etc. that she goes into Mary Sue territory.**


	13. Heart-Pounding Kimodameshi! Part 1

"The day of the annual competition has finally arrived, everyone! Who wants to participate?" I thrust my hand up so fast, I nearly succeeded in punching Zero right in his chin- which, in all honestly, probably would've hurt me more than him, but still, that wasn't really the point. Luckily, Zero had surprisingly quick reflexes and managed to dodge out of the way before I broke my knuckles. And his face. But, mainly my knuckles.

Ichii, looking fairly perplexed, switched his attention on to me, while Zero took a seat on the floor and sprawled out across my desk. "What's this?"

I smiled, barely managing to restrain myself from bouncing in my seat. "Every year, our class organises a Kimodameshi- A test of courage. All the students that want to participate return to the school at night, and wait outside for their turn- the aim is to make it all the way from the first floor to the roof with your assigned partner." Zero was hooked. He had this big, dopey grin on his face- it was actually really endearing to see, especially since he had these little dimples which only heightened his adorableness. "Also, there's a rumour that if you confess to your partner on this day, your love will definitely be a success!"

"This sounds like fun!" Zero said, leaning even further into his arms, his head tilted at such an angle, all I could really see were two preternaturally huge eyes staring up at me. I nodded frantically in agreement. "Have you done this before?" Again, I nodded- and for some reason, that really amused Zero. Ichii rolled his eyes and nudged the younger boy with his foot. Zero promptly stopped laughing, rubbed at his eyes and apologised, though it held no real sincerity. In fact, I could've sworn I could see a certain sparkle at his eyes- the of tiny remnants of tears clinging to his lashes. "It's just weird to think of you doing something like a test of courage. I mean, you basically get scared of everything."

"Well... You are right with that, I do get scared pretty easily-" I flinched as Zero wiggled his fingers and exclaimed _Boo!_ In my defence, I hadn't been expecting it. _Actually... I can't even defend myself... That was pretty pathetic._ He really struggled to smother his giggles, though Ichii's firm tap on his head sobered him up somewhat. He teasingly stuck out his tongue to retaliate against my pout. He was actually getting pretty good at resisting my puppy-dog eyes, which was a little disappointing. "You're so mean, Zero. I actually really like the Kimodameshi. It's actually pretty fun- after it's finished... And I always set myself a goal; to get all the way through. This year, I'm definitely going to do it!"

"I'm sure you will, Hikari." Ichii said, raising his voice to be heard over the clamour. He jerked his thumb towards the door, where students were already beginning to file out of the room. I stretched out, arms raised high above my head, yawning so deeply that my eyes watered, before giving him a small nod and collected my belongings. It felt as if I were walking on air all the way home. Even the fact that I tripped on the stairs didn't dampen my mood. Nor Ichii's- who'd been the one to react quickly, pulling me back to safety before Zero had even registered that I was in danger. "Hikari, do me a favour and try not to kill yourself before then, alright?"

I was only too happy to agree.

* * *

In all honesty, I had warned the boys. But I obviously hadn't done a good enough job. Even I wasn't prepared for her reaction- and that was saying something, since she was my own mother. To explain, we- as in me, Zero and Ichii were all crowded around the coffee table, totally engrossed in a game of monopoly as we patiently waited for my mother to return home from work. Of course, being me, I was destitute within six rounds and was barely scraping my way across the board. Though, I hadn't expected Zero to be so enthusiastic over the game, or for Ichii to be so good at it despite this being his first time. Annoyingly, he seemed to have an abundant amount of luck on his side- managing to avoid both mine and Zero's properties and almost always collecting money wherever possible.

None of us were paying too much attention to anything but the game- especially since Zero was about to take a very risky roll. After all, discovering whether Zero would avoid Ichii's crippling Mayfair and Park Lane duo or would become even more bankrupt than me was pretty exciting. So, we could probably be excused for being unaware of our surroundings. That was, of course, until my mother squealed very loudly and swept into the room with the full force of a tornado.

She was smothering Zero in a massive, spinning hug before he could even blink. Also, she'd succeeded in completely decimating the game, knocking the whole board off the table and scattering the pieces across the floor- which Tabby promptly chased, forcing Ichii to restrain my excitably kitten and me to swipe up the potential dangerous objects before they could cause any harm. All the while, my mother was practically suffocating Zero, bouncing off questions at a hundred miles an hour, only pausing to breathe, which she did as little as was required. The poor boy looked so disorientated it was very difficult not to take pity on him.

Then she spotted Ichii and her eyes lit up like a child on Christmas. Zero was promptly dropped and she bounded over, thrusting her hand out so sharply she nearly hit him in the face, hardly giving Ichii any time to compose himself. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the boy give me an uncertain glance and nodded encouragingly. He took that as his cue to shake her hand and was apparently very surprised with the force she used. I almost face-palmed. My mother was ridiculous. She had the energy of a six-year-old on red bull and that only seemed to drastically increase depending on different circumstances. Meeting Zero again? Through the roof. Meeting Ichii for the first time? Out of this world.

"Zero, you look so much thinner. Ichii, you too. You're both like walking sticks. Come, I'll get you fed up right away." And then she was seizing them by their collars and dragging them to the kitchen so insistently, they didn't even have the power to protest. "Poor boys, it must be difficult living on your own. You're always welcome to stay for dinner, you know that, right? We have leftovers, too. You can take some home today- they just need a quick zap in the microwave before you eat them." She dumped the boys in a chair and thankfully they stayed there, staring at me with wide eyes. I knew that look. I got it all the time. _How the hell are you two related?_ \- That was the look.

I shrugged in reply, and took the spare chair next to Zero. "Mum, it's the Kimodameshi tonight. I think I told you a couple of weeks ago?" She hummed in response, bustling about pulling all sorts of things out of cabinets. "We have to wear our Kimono's again. Can you help me get ready? Once you're done, that is." She smiled and nodded, then set herself back to work, cheerfully singing as she did so. It was needless to say- she wasn't the best at it. Singing, that is- but none of us voiced that opinion. After all, it was very sweet how much she seemed to be enjoying herself. Tabby, sighing contently, curled up at my feet. I peered down at her, wondering whether she was sleeping. I loved her and all, but having a kitten sleep on you was one of the worst things possible. They were just so cute you didn't dare to move them, and then your entire leg slowly goes dead. And, yes, I was speaking from experience.

Time past quickly, and soon we were all tucking into a steaming plate of food. Zero, eyes widening took one bite and made a noise so loud it was difficult to miss. "This is amazing!" He said, around a mouthful. Instantly that set her, that being my mother, off on a excited spiel about recipes and testing new ingredients etc. and Zero struggled valiantly with the difficult task of looking like he was actually interested. Both myself and Ichii sacrificed him. Heads bowed, eyes locked even from across the table, we struggled with _our_ very important task of not choking on our food as we attempted to smother our laughter. Zero's strained expression was absolutely priceless.

"Ano, Mum, do you want a drink?" I decided to wade in. I couldn't let Zero suffer too much now, could I? Upon hearing her reply, I brewed some coffee and poured it into three cups. I was the only one left cradling my hot chocolate. For a moment I felt like a kid sitting up at the big kid's table- I'd never liked coffee, it was far too bitter for my taste. Evidently, Zero had also realised that. I figured, since he was fairly immature, he'd wanted the same as Ichii and hadn't bothered to determine whether he actually liked it or not beforehand. I could see the regret so clearly on his face, I failed to stop myself from laughing. Thankfully, I managed not to die.

Zero and Ichii, the ever helpful gentleman promptly ignored my mother's protests and cleaned the dishes while my mother whisked me away to find my Kimono. When I checked on them, they were in the midst of a very heated battle, flicking soap suds at each other. The kitchen was quite a mess, but they were enjoying themselves so much- if their shiny eyes and flushed cheeks were anything to go by- that my scoldings quickly died on my lips. They were laughing loudly and smiling- a sweet, delighted, heartfelt expression that lit up their whole face. No, their whole _body._ I didn't dare disturb them. They deserved to really act silly every once in a while.

It didn't seem to take very long before I was ready, but even then, I hesitated. Biting my lip, I peered through the tiny sliver of space I had made. Zero and Ichii, after having thoroughly cleaned the kitchen, were almost exactly where I left them- lounging comfortably in the living room, looking very relaxed as they chatted idly, Ichii absently petting Tabby who was snuggled into his side. _Okay, stop peeping. You've been waiting out here for five minutes now. Girl, you've faced much worse! I mean, they're not going to laugh- I'm just wearing a kimono, after all. Stop being so nervous and go into the damn room!_ Steadying myself, I fluttered into the room, anxiously tugging at a lock of my hair and focus intently at my feet. "A-ano, I'm done. H-how do I look?"

"Wow, you look very pretty, Hikari. That kimono really suits you." I blushed. I could literally feel the heat settling in my cheeks, which only made me feel more embarrassed as I attempted to thank him, stuttering so awkwardly I almost cringed. _I do love this Kimono though. Deep red with pretty little Sakura blossoms and a black obi around my waist- it's so cute! I'm so glad I bought it._ Zero motioned for me to twirl and I did so, having to grapple at a nearby chair when I tripped.

"Your hair looks different." Zero said, quietly, once I'd recovered. "It's nice, I guess." I beamed. My cheeks were so flushed, I probably looked sunburnt. Zero was already up and leaning against the doorway. "Are you coming?" I nodded. Pressure. Pressure on my head. Something... Something in my hair? I glanced over my shoulder. Ichii smiled, carefully sliding a miniaturised version of my lollipop just above the tie securing my hair into a ponytail.

"To keep you safe," He said.

"Thank you." I replied and joined Zero, barely being able to breathe as my mother crushed us all in a big hug. Telling us once more to be careful and not to wander off on our own and to have fun- the usual motherly advice. I nodded, smiled and kissed her goodbye. And then we were gone.

* * *

We drew lots to determine which pairs we were going in. Of course, the other examinees turned up- just to make everything even more chaotic. but, contrary to what I'd originally thought, they actually wanted to participate in the Kimodameshi. To be perfectly honest, a lot of the pairings were pretty crazy. Rokka and Forte? San and Zero? And the Gou and my best friend Kei? (The last actually surprising me the most- I hadn't figured Kei to be the one to fall for the cool, composed type. It was really weird seeing her act in a way completely different from her usual, rather reserved self).

Though, I was really pleased. I figured I got the best of the lot- being paired with Ichii and all. He was kind and gentle and so patient, he'd definitely help me to the best of his abilities and hopefully wouldn't dare laugh. I mean, I really was a big wimp. Just being out after dark gave me the creeps- which was why I stuck very close to Ichii. He was something safe and secure, something which anchored me down and quelled my fear quite significantly. His hand landed on my head, ruffling my hair a little, though he was careful enough to avoid dislodging the lollipop. "Looks like we're a pair, Hikari. Treat me well."

"Oh, yeah, I will. You too, Ichii. I... I didn't get very far last year. Please, be patient with me!" I was nervous now. It felt like my insides were writhing, twisting into tight, suffocating knots that were almost painful to endure. I struggled to ignore them. This happened every time- but so far, I'd managed to beat them. I _had_ to get stronger. I _had_ to face my fears and become braver. Nothing was going to stop me. I had set myself a goal and I would achieve it. "I guess it's-" I paused, gulping and feeling very annoyed with myself. _Voice- stop refusing to function properly!_ "I guess it's our turn, now, right?" Ichii nodded in reply and easily led the way to the building with his long, loopy strides.

He pulled back the trailing curtain and observed the hallway. "It's pretty dark in here." And with that, he swiftly ducked inside. I skittered after him, already feeling bad. _It's cool. You're cool. You're with Ichii. And it's not like it's real, anyway. Not real at all. So you're all good, Hikari._ Ichii was studying some hand prints on the wall. Red, bloody hand prints. I failed to smother the small whimper that rose in my throat- despite the fact that it was clearly paint, it still frightened me. We were off again, cautiously weaving our way between shrines and fake severed body parts I didn't dare look too closely at. The music was eerie, it sounded like a dripping tap. _Or blood._ I thought, glancing around with wide eyes. _It could be the sound of dripping blood._

Some blurry shape fell down in front of us. I screamed and stumbled backwards, promptly falling over. Ichii, damn him, didn't look startled in the least. He poked and prodded at the sack, his smile obvious even in this poor lighting. "Does this really scare you, Hikari?" He asked, manoeuvring it around so he could see the back. I screamed again, after catching sight on the hideous face and fumbled to cover my eyes. Ichii chuckled quietly. "Ah- sorry, sorry. Hold on, let me help-" Once again, I screamed. What I'd previously thought was my own clumsiness that resulted in my little tumble, actually turned out to be a skeleton sprawled out across the path. I struggled to push myself away. _Gosh, Kimono's are so impractical. I wish I'd warn casual clothes, like Ichii and Zero._

A hand, warm and gentle settled on my shoulder. My gaze shot up. I could feel tears welling in my eyes and was furious about it. I was being so childish- yet I couldn't help being scared. It was purely instinctive. Before I knew it, Ichii had carefully lifted me back up. His smile seemed so reassuring, it instantly banished my tears. "Hey, Hikari-" He said, every word soft and light and there was so much sweetness in his voice, it seemed to extract my negative feelings one by one. "I'm actually really scared. Would you hold my hand? It'll make me feel a lot better." Somehow, I didn't believe him. But I did it anyway. I took Ichii's big hand in both of mine and squeezed tightly and, damn, I really didn't want to let go.

I was glad. That he said that, I was really glad. It distracted me pretty well, actually. Over and over again I repeated his words, so even when a bony face swung before us, I didn't scream. True, I did flinch and fall against Ichii, but I didn't scream. And I didn't run- which is what I'd been feeling like doing just moments ago. "A-Are you feeling better, Ichii?" I asked, when what I truly meant was; _I'm feeling better, Ichii._

"Yeah, I am. All because of you, I don't think I feel so scared now. Thanks, Hikari."

I smiled. That moment couldn't last, and all too soon, it was broken by a piercing cry of _Boo!_ I screamed. All the progress I'd made, and after how much better I was feeling, I screamed. But when two ghosts jump out unexpectedly, I'm sure I could be forgiven for my reaction. I could only curse, though, as I stumbled. And tripped. Ichii caught me. Ichii could always react fast enough to snatch me out of the air- like some heroic fairy-tail prince. Only this time he slipped too. And we were falling. My stomach jerked and, oh, god, it felt awful, trapped in mid-air feeling completely weightless. And he was so close. _No. Oh, no. Ichii- he's too close. When we hit the ground he's going to- going to-_

 _Kiss me._

For a panicked moment I wasn't really sure whether I wanted him to kiss me, whether ought to try and do something to stop him, maybe try to turn and fail spectacularly while doing so? But then Rokka appeared out of thin air, her Ichii-senses blaring and knocked us off course. He did land practically over me, though, which I was a little embarrassed about. And in the commotion Forte appeared and San jumped on his back, and Zero promptly followed suit. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about showing me the ghost costume he'd made. "Isn't it cool?" Zero said, dumping it over my head. I battled with the sheet a little and managed to find the hem in order to peer out from underneath. He grinned. Zero looked so young, when he did that. I had a feeling that it wasn't something many people were in to- looking that endearingly goofy.

I couldn't help but be glad that we were all together again. Though I had a distinct feeling that things were going to go downhill from here.

* * *

 **A/N:** **And that concludes my 13th chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy reading this. I actually mix-and-matched with the Anime and Manga on this one. I just felt it was unnecessary for Nina to get so hung up over Sarasa calling- and that whole episode just got on my nerves. I mean, I liked the plot and all but they really needed to tone it down a little. Anyway, feedback would be great- I'm not really sure whether making Hikari this frightened was a good idea.**

 **LoveInuyasha22: That was one of my favourite bits, which is why I decided to play on it and continuously have Hikari lamenting about her intense desire to hit Will with a chair. Thank you for your continued support- It's much appreciated!**

 **Moka: Nice! I'm going to have a lot of fun playing around with that. I'd also love to hear what you think of this chapter.**

 **AJPJweallluvJJ: Ah, yeah. I totally get what you mean. Hikari is really shy and so it wouldn't make sense for her to suddenly leap in levels of sass until she gets positively apoplectic. I hope you liked it, though? I did enjoy writing her in a way other than her usual shy, don't-look-at-me attitude.**


	14. Heart-Pounding Kimodameshi! Part 2

"See? So cool, isn't it? Those ghosts guys made it for me." Zero's grin was even wider now and it was matched with an even more adorable laugh. "It's so big on you! Looks like you're wearing a massive cape." I struck a ridiculous pose, fluffing my hair and doing my best imitation of a super-model pout, which only caused Zero to laugh harder. We both paused, though, at the familiar beeping noise that interrupted our little reunion and the antics that followed. "A finder?" Instantly, our eyes darted back to the ghosts, who ripped their sheets off with dramatic force, revealing the two people hidden beneath. A small pause ensued, where both sides stared unblinking at each other. Recognition flitted across Zero's expression as he jumped up, stabbing his finger towards the intruders, who both copied his movements.

I, on the other hand, could only feel confused as they yelled. From what I could guess, I was in danger once again. _I can never really catch a break, can I?_ Sighing, I tuned back into the conversation, my hands already fidgeting, picking at my sleeve as I raised up to my feet, edging closer to my safety- the boys. "I never thought you guys were examinees!"

"That's our line, stupid!" Zero said, pulling a face. He was still far too immature to really stop himself from doing things like that. But then again, sometimes immaturity was one of Zero's most endearing qualities. "It took you long enough to get here. But we're not giving the Crystal Pearl up." _What?_ Well, apparently, this was not a pleasant meeting. _So, they... know each other ? They really don't look like they get along all too well..._ Evidently, I was correct with that assessment, as they rushed to attack each other, too caught up with their emotions to really think straight. Now, I wasn't stupid. As soon as Zero and Ichii raced past, I high tailed it to safety. They were powerful, Zero and Ichii were, I was already well aware of that. I figured it would be easier for them to fight if they didn't need to worry about me getting caught in the middle.

I wondered briefly whether I should wade in and assist the boys. After all, they hadn't spent several afternoons teaching, and reinforcing my knowledge, of self-defence for nothing. But, then again, would I really be much help against two sorcerer's? I highly doubted I'd ever be presented with the opportunity to get close enough to land a blow, and even then, my way of fighting was exceedingly different from Zero's decimating Karate-style hard and fast strikes. My best possible punch probably wouldn't even do more than surprise those examinees and I could only imagine the wounded look of confusion their faces would display. That, or they'd cripple me with one hit back. Neither were entirely desirable, especially seeing as though I would've been attempting to be tough. My aim to protect the boys, for once, would've halted right away.

Magic collided and with a sharp bang, exploded in several loud flurries. Scorching heat flushed the area, forcing me to back away, lest I got burned. With a decisive buzz, the pathetic, wan lights that had been illuminating the corridor disappeared, leaving the area blanketed in pure darkness. _An... An outage?_ I gave a small shriek, which was obviously noticed by the ever perceptive Ichii. He never really missed much, which didn't really surprise me any more. "Hikari? Are you alright? Try to stay calm for me, okay? Don't move from that spot, I'll find you." Zero added his own comment, albeit less reassuring than Ichii's. More along the lines of, _I'm on my way, so don't you dare move because I will not be a happy bunny if I have to waste time hunting you down._ Rokka was also having a mini-freak out session, much more dramatic and obvious than my own, though only Gou seemed to be at all bothered with paying her any attention.

A hand grasped my wrist and with gentle insistence, pulled me forward. They were saying something, but with the general clamour and Rokka's death cries, I couldn't really identify the voice or the words as they were whipped into an incomprehensible mess. It didn't really seem like Zero. Whenever Zero led me somewhere, he was always so excitable and did so faster than I can really go, often giving me little tugs to encourage me forward. Ichii, on the other hand, was gentle and patient, matching my speed but still keeping us at a swift pace, much like now. So, I was calm. Because I assumed Ichii had found me and was whisking me away from a situation he was already aware I wasn't comfortable with. I didn't struggle, because that assumption was so like Ichii, I couldn't really find any fault with it.

That was, of course, until we emerged outside and I caught a glimpse of the person as they stepped into the shafts of moonlight peeking out from behind the morose grey clouds. Tall. As tall as Ichii. But with a startling mop of messy, red hair, compared to the rich brown I was accustomed to. Definitely not Ichii. Yakumo. I struggled to stay calm as my heart skipped a beat. _It's one of those examinees! The ones Zero and Ichii were fighting. This isn't good..._ "I think this is far enough. Well, what do we do now, Nanase? We need a plan to get The Crystal Pearl before Ichii and Zero-"

"Hey, let go of me!" I said, sharply, attempting to free myself and failing spectacularly. "You're hurting my hand!"

"Huh? What're you talking about-" I could almost seeing the question mark floating above his head as he threw a quick glance in my direction. I put on my best smouldering glower as he did an immediate double take. Though I couldn't see my own expression, I figured I probably looked as fierce as a kitten, which obviously wasn't helping me one bit. I decided to ramp up the intensity and he faulted slightly, though I couldn't tell whether it was because of my expression, or the fact that he'd noticed there was a random girl next to him. "Who... Who the hell are you?" _Oh no. What do I do? I need to get out of here! If he finds out about the Crystal Pearl... He'll definitely capture me!_

"Yakumo, you idiot!" Said boy was the promptly smacked on the head by a very well aimed sandal, instantly dropping his grip on my hand. Unfortunately, I got caught with the backlash and spared a moment to give a small, pained whimper. Seeing as though I was now free, I took that as my chance to place some well-needed distance between us. "Thanks a lot for running off like that and leaving me behind, you jerk! What's even worse, you mistook me for that ugly girl, even though I'm definitely way cuter." _Ugly? How rude! This guy has less tact that Zero and that's saying something._ Unfortunately, their little spat was interrupted by the finder, which, being in such a close proximity to me and all- was sensing the Crystal Pearl. _Uh-oh! Busted. I'm totally done for! Maybe if I make a run for it now, I can get away?_ Both boys turned to stare at me. Gulping, I took a precautionary step back, which they didn't seem to object to. "What? This reaction... Don't tell me... You're the girl that swallowed the Crystal Pearl!" Nanase snorted contemptuously. "I thought that was just a rumour, but for there to actually be someone stupid enough to swallow the Pearl-" I really felt an itching urge to wipe the look right off his face. Luckily for him, I had abundant amounts of self-control, so I was pretty adept at resisting negative feelings.

"Hikari!" Quickly, I wheeled to face the familiar voice. _Zero!_ "Hey, I found her. She's over here, Ichii!" Upon hearing Zero's words, the brunette agilely vaulted out of a second story window and landed with cat-like grace. The movement was so fast, so unexpected, I didn't even have time to panic for his safety. Evidently, he was unhurt, which calmed me greatly. "Are you alright?" I nodded frantically, feeling a wave of relief roll over me. _They're here. I'm okay. I'm safe._ Though as I went to join them, to take Ichii's extended hand and be pulled to safety, I was roughly dragged back. "Hey," Zero yelled, an angry note held firmly in his voice, fists clenched tightly at his side. "Don't do that, idiot! She's delicate."

Ichii, meanwhile, apparently had no qualms about stepping right up into Yakumo's comfort zone. With the two being of similar heights, and the smouldering fury showing clearly in Ichii's usually soothing hazel eyes, it was a fairly terrifying sight to behold. "What the hell are you doing, Yakumo?" His voice was slow, low and decisively deadly.

Yakumo crossed his arms and rolled his eyes in an almost bored manner- seemingly not too interested in Ichii's impressive display of tranquil fury. "Now we know the girl's the Crystal Pearl, we're not giving her up that easily-" Ichii chanced a small peek at my face, his fierce expression only seemed to increase in intensity as he caught sight of my pleading eyes. I gave a start of surprise as Yakumo bent lower to examine me, his face mere inches from my own. With no space to retreat to, I was left there, completely trapped, feeling pretty insecure and fighting an overwhelming urge stemming from my fear to strike out and bolt away as fast as I could. "Now that I take a closer look, she's pretty cute. Relax, we'll protect her until the exam is over."

Zero scoffed, and promptly took hold of my arm, pulling me away. "Yeah, right. _We're_ the one's protecting Hikari. Just leave her alone!"

"Yeah?" Nanase challenged, doing the same with my remaining hard, so forcefully I stumbled and whimpered slightly from the pain that flared up my leg. "Who decided that? We also have a right to protect this girl, you know!" That, obviously, commenced a tug-of-war game between the two, with my limbs being used as the rope. Back and forth I was yanked, like I was so prized doll they both wanted possession over, the two volleying insults at such a fast pace, they couldn't even hear my pained cries and pleas to be released. "Let go, Zero!"

 _That's it. Next person to do that is going to pay. Heavily. With screaming._ "STOP IT!" I screamed, pushing both boys away and curling in close. "I SAID THAT HURTS!" Evidently, from the way all the boys seemed to have faltered, they were very surprised at my outburst. "Jeez, how can you guys argue so much? You better tell me the reason right now!"

Ichii glanced up, seated on the floor just like the others, his head lazily propped up with his hand. "A reason, you ask? Well, we were all classmates at the cram school in the Magic World. While everyone has their respective types, you still learn a fair amount. Anyway, once a month, we'd all get into pairs and battles would take place. As you can probably tell, it was always me and Zero against them, but during those times we'd always end up in a tie, so a clear winner was never really decided." _So... That's it? They're both so competitive... It's just a silly rivalry? Well, seeing how they are, it's probably pretty serious for them..._

Yakumo, clearly distressed, smoothly interrupted and spun his tragic tale about his wounded heart which started by demonstrating his magic type- the ability to change anything he wished into a weapon, which elicited such a joyful, endearing grin out of Zero, it instantly made listening to his rather boring spiel at least a little worthwhile. He laid it on so thick, though, about how a younger Ichii had ruined his confidence and self esteem with a single tactless comment, that I lost interest in the matter. fairly quickly. _Though, Ichii saying something apparently so harsh Yakumo was still upset over it is a little intriguing... He's always so nice, I can't imagine Ichii ever saying anything horrible to anyone..._

Though Nanase soon took over, abruptly pushing Yakumo away- the boy had still been berating Ichii, the poor brunette desperately staying calm as he attempted to explain that he'd already apologised for the matter, which sounded a lot more like him. As soon as Nanase started talking, I had a sinking suspicion I wasn't really going to sympathise with him at all, something which was soon proved to be right. The boy had tricked others into believing he was female to gain popularity- something which he immediately lost when Zero unwittingly revealed Nanase's real gender after crashing into him. "Your intuition works on weird levels." Ichii commented quietly, once Nanase had finished his over-dramatic ranting.

"Anyway, we won't lose to you guys this time, Zero, Ichii! We'll be the ones to protect the Crystal Pearl! Come with us, Hikari."

Zero and Ichii both glared and calmly stepped forward so they were acting as my shields, blocking me from their scrutiny. Strong, confident, they stood before me, unwavering from the mission set clearly in their minds. Rigid in the promise they had made me, all those many months ago. "No way." He said. "Isn't it obvious? We've been protecting Hikari this whole time. She's not just going to Waltz off with someone who popped out of nowhere! She doesn't know anything about you. And you guys- you don't know her at all. Not like us. You don't know her like we do. So, no- she's not staying with you."

"No? You say she doesn't know anything about _us,_ but I bet she knows even less about you two, am I right?" Yakumo said, pleased with the sudden worry that flashed across the boy's faces. "Have you bothered to tell her anything about your past? Because I bet once she knows, she won't be so keen to hang out with you guys any longer." Zero scowled, which only seemed to amuse Yakumo even more. "If you're so confident in your relationship, then why don't you let Hikari decide? Whoever she picks, she stays with. End of story. Agreed?" To my surprise, Ichii seemed pretty nonchalant. With a confident tip of his head, he turned smartly on his heels and practically forced Zero to follow as he backed away, primly ignoring the younger boy's loud protests.

 _Huh? Oh god, I feel so much pressure! But it's obvious... isn't it? It's obvious who I should choose..._ I paused, allowing my teeth to slide against my lip. _But.. Maybe he's got a point... Maybe, Yakumo is right... I mean, the truth is, I really... don't know anything about Zero and Ichii's pasts. Just because I'm always with them... and they're always protecting me... Doesn't mean that I understand who they really are... Does it?_

 _No._ My fists slowly clenched into balls, so tight my nails dug into my skin. The pain didn't bother me. In fact, it helped me to focus on what was truly important. _That's not true. I do understand them and I know everything I need to about both Ichii and Zero. I know that they'd protect me with their lives and they've proved that on numerous occasions. I know that they care about me- just like I do with them. I know that if I'm upset, Ichii will always be there, my shoulder to cry on and his comforting words would lull me into a peaceful sleep. And Zero? I know that Zero would take one look at my expression and instantly arm himself with a shovel to bury the loser that made me cry- even if he wouldn't willingly admit it aloud._

 _I know that they make a lot of effort to avoid situations they know I'm not comfortable with. I know that they can always sense when something's wrong and always take the appropriate measures to fix that problem. I know that sometimes, Zero speaks without thinking and sometimes that can hurt. A lot. But I know he means well, really. And I know that Ichii can sometimes be too thoughtful, that sometimes putting others before himself so many times is really tiring for him and that whenever he gets the chance to rest, he's really grateful. Even if that rest might be a quick power-nap, curled up on my bed with Tabby purring like a steam engine right next to his ear._ _I know a lot about them. Just like they know a lot about me. I know that Zero actually gets embarrassed pretty easily, especially when he's being praised. I know that Ichii can charm his way out of almost any situation, which comes in handy sometimes when we have to leave class early to avoid other examinees._

 _I know that Zero, while despising the stuff himself, often makes Ichii a big mug of coffee in the morning- in his own words, so dark the spoon melts- because the older boy often had difficultly rising. I know that Ichii often helps Zero out with his homework, because the younger boy hated English and struggled greatly with it. I know that, when he's proud of me, Zero will often ruffle my hair in his affectionate way, or chip me underneath the chin. I know that they worry when we have to split up- even if it's just for a moment, because they simply can't bear the thought of anything happening to me, just like I couldn't with them. I know that when he's nervous, Zero will pick at the hem of his shirt and that Ichii will be touching his hair in some form. I know that Zero favours puffing his cheeks out when he's feeling put-out and Ichii has an amusing habit of rolling his eyes at our antics, especially when he thinks we're not looking._ _I know that I trust them. And I know that they trust me. And truthfully? I figure that's all the really matters._

Ichii looked calm. He seemed very collected. When he noticed me looking, I saw his lips quirk in a small, warm smile. Zero was busy focusing on his sleeve as he tugged at the fabric. I chanced a glance back over at the other two. I couldn't tell what they were thinking at all. But something, a small, familiar something laying on the ground right near Nanase's feet caught my eye. Something that must have been dislodged when the sandal hit me. And it instantly had me walking towards them. Behind me, I could tell Zero faltered as he looked up- eyes wide with shock. I didn't dare imagine Ichii's expression. "You're wrong." I said quietly, once I'd reached Yakumo. "You're wrong, Yakumo. I do know about them- and even if their pasts are brought into the equation, I'd still trust them with my life. Ano... I'm sorry, Yakumo, Nanase- I appreciate the offer, I really do. But, I'm staying with them. I'm staying with Ichii and Zero." With that, I bowed, picking my abandoned lollipop off the floor and practically galloped back to my friends, leaping at them with my signature flying-tackle-hug, something which I'd recently learned off Ayumi.

Zero squeezed me tighter than he'd ever done before. Ichii's grip was lighter, gentler, but still holding the same amount of emotion. "I always had faith in you, Hikari. I knew that you'd stay and I'm happy that you're back with us." He said. His kind words gave almost the same amount of warmth as Zero, when he rested his forehead against my own, skin cool and slightly clammy as he quietly begged me never to worry him like that again. My skin tingled wistfully, already aching from his absence, once he pulled away, which he did as soon as I agreed, his cheeks noticeably flushed a little darker than before.

"I feel safe when I'm with you." And, gosh was I caught up with my emotions. I couldn't hear a word Yakumo or Nanase were saying. It felt as if I were floating on air, and nothing, not even them could take that away from me. Zero, though, was pretty startled over some comment Yakumo had made and his grip tightened a little, almost possessively, as he scowled after the boy.

"Let's go home."

"It is pretty late," Ichii agreed. "Asahina-san is probably worried about you, Hikari. We better be quick."

And so we did. Though, I noticed neither boy let go of my hand the whole way there.

* * *

She squeezed me tightly, already caught in one of her infamous spinning hugs, squealing loudly, her cheerfulness pretty evident. Tabby meowed loudly and pranced around our feet, looking just as, if not more, excited than my mother. Sometimes I really thought Tabby would've been better off being a dog, the way she acted. Sometimes I figure my mother was part dog, with the abundant amounts of energy she has, tucked up in that little body of hers. Yes. The short gene did run in the family.

She paused with her incessant squishing to hold me at arms length and I could fully see her emerald eyes shinning with anticipation. "So, my little star, did you have fun? You did enjoy yourself, right? And how did you do? I want to know everything! Every single little detail. I'm so, so, so proud of youuuuuu~!" And then she laughed at my expression. I was pretty dizzy. It probably showed fairly well on my face.

"Ano... It was okay... Much better than last year, though. I was paired Ichii, which was really good. He's so sweet, mum. He was so nice to me and took really great care of me. And guess what? I even got further than last time! Almost to the stairs! When I freaked out, Ichii was right there. He even let me hold his hand- though I think I almost cut off his circulation... I'm a little sad though, I still didn't make it all the way through..." Another squeal and I was brought back into a second, crushing hug. I was already well aware that this was my mother's unusual way of showing affection- absolutely squeezing the life out of a person.

"Aw, Hikari! You're my little angel! You almost got to the stairs this time? That's amazing! I'm so proud of you! I know that one day you'll manage to get through. But, you know, sweetheart, I'm always be proud of you no matter what. So even if you don't do it, you'll still be perfect in my eyes. Now~ You don't have school tomorrow, do you?" I replied with a simple shake of my head. "Yaaaay~ This calls for a movie marathon! Junk food and fizzy drinks all around. We'll celebrate your victory until dawn!"

With Tabby snoozing contently on my lap, I drifted off in my mother's embrace, listening to the rhythmic beats of her heart, allowing the familiar sound to lull me into a peaceful sleep. I couldn't hep but feel like the luckiest girl in the world. With two best friends who protected me with their lives. Another two, I'd felt I had know forever, who supported me indefinitely. And mother who loved me with all her heart.

* * *

 **A/N:** **And that concludes my 14th chapter. I actually mix-and-matched with the Anime and Manga on this one, so much so I can't really tell which one I used the most. I really hope you guys enjoy reading this! And I'm awfully sorry that it's a couple of days late. The reason is that I'd completely ruined the battery on my laptop- Advice of the day, never leave it charging for indefinite periods of time, it completely screws it up. So, my laptop kinda died and I lost everything I'd wrote so far- which was pretty annoying, but it could be fixed. It was returned a couple of days ago, after they'd take it to install a new battery for me. *Sweatdrops* I'm determined to keep it in perfect condition!**

 **LoveInuyasha22: I'm really glad you liked it, and that you found it less confusing than the anime. I'm glad you noticed that~ I figured Zero did seem pretty immature, in certain situations and decided to play on that a bit. Yes, Hitomi is really fun to write, I really do like developing really enthusiastic, energetic characters, probably because I spend so much time with someone similar to her~**

 **AJPJweallluvJJ: I thought it would be pretty ironic if Hikari was this Shrinking Violet type character and her mother was a massive Genki Girl on a permanent sugar rush. Do you like it? Or do you think that it'd maybe a bit too much? (Also, excuse my use of tropes they seem to have threaded their way into my vocabulary)**


	15. Jealousy, Part 1

Rushing up to the door with all the furious energy of a raging tornado, I paused for a split second to rain down a volley of warning knocks before sweeping into the room, barely aware of the fact that Ichii had still yet to button up his shirt, or that I knocked a picture off the dresser. He rapidly turned his back to me and began fumbling to do so as quickly and inconspicuously as possible. He failed to do both. Zero, on the other hand, was fully dressed and busy staring intently at me, as if I had suddenly sprouted a second head. "Whoa. Okay. You're here. In this room. You know, there's this new thing, Asahina. It's called _knocking-_ look into it." His voice, though sarcastic, only served to spin me into overdrive.

"I did knock! I knocked loads! How could you not have heard that?" I replied indignantly, galloping over and tugging on his arm as I bounced excitedly up and down, his name already rolling off my tongue in an incomprehensible mantra, twirling the poor boy so fast I almost missed his dizzy exclamation of _'that was you knocking?'._ "Guess what? Guess what, Zero?" I didn't give him a chance though, because I released him and selectively ignored the fact that he collapsed backwards onto the bed to catch his breath. Instead I latched on to Ichii still bouncing from my abundant energy. "Guess what, Ichii? Guess what?" Ichii, instead of struggling uselessly like Zero had, allowed himself to be swung around, chuckling warmly at my antics as my mantra switched to his own name.

"You're going on holiday?" Zero suggested, his voice a little weak. I shook my head so fast it was probably a blur. "You're getting another cat?" Again, the same response, though this time I almost managed to KO Ichii. "You're getting a pony?" A hopeful note was in his voice. It was endearing and vaguely amusing. So much so, that I laughed. "Well, what is it then, Shrimp? We can't guess all day. We've got school to go to, you know." I paused with my incessant movement, giving Ichii a moment to rest. He did appear to be quite dizzy.

"Oh..." I said quietly, a little downcast now, shuffling my feet awkwardly. "My news isn't as big as that..." Ichii gave me an encouraging nudge, which aided to boost my spirits considerably. "Okay. Since you guys _begged_ , I'll tell you! I've just been measured and guess what? I've grown loads!" My eyes flitted from both boys faces, gauging their reactions. Zero looked a little perturbed, Ichii was ever cheerful. "Zero, Zero, I'm 4"9 now! I'm nearly as tall as you now!" Zero snorted at that, though he did smile immediately afterwards and cross the distance to ruffle my hair.

"Yeah, good luck with that, squirt." He said, before promptly ejecting me from the room.

* * *

I was taking my sweet time. For some reason, my hair just wouldn't cooperate and it was irritating me greatly. No amount of brushing seemed to be able to tame that stray lock. I wondered briefly what I could do with it, when I heard an insistent tapping at the bathroom window and threw open the blinds to find Ichii crouched there on a tree limb that was far too slender to hold his weight. For a moment before I caught sight of the branch, I mistakenly thought he'd somehow found a way to fly. But, no, he was being incredibly graceful, and ignoring the laws of physics which were inevitably going to protest. After being warned that I should make haste as Zero was in certain kill-mode, and almost having a heart-attack as Ichii was forced to spring back to avoid falling to his death when the branch promptly snapped, I advised them both to come inside, into the warmth.

In hindsight, careering down the stairs was a very bad idea. It was just my luck that I was to trip over my own feet and go flying. Thankfully Ichii had lightning-fast reactions and caught me before I could do any permanent damage. He was too busy ramping up his abundant charm, though, as he reassured my panicked mother on my safety, that he didn't notice the fact that I was shaking. Neither did Zero, who barely touched me as he issued a band aid to a particularly nasty graze on my elbow. " _Mama. Where is he? Why isn't he home yet?"_ The voice had been so sudden, so unexpected. It struck me, high and clear as I had been hurtling to the ground and left me grasping pitiful to regain my composure which was rapidly slipping through my fingers. My voice. When I was younger, a mere eight years old.

It had been a while since I had revisited the memory, though I often walked its hallowed halls in the silent hours of night, locked away in precious, fragile dreams. My colourless face went unnoticed by the other occupants of the room. So did my pale, unsteady fingers as they reached up and curled tightly around my locket. My eyes flickered over to the mantel piece, where a box lay motionless, a fine layer of dust coating the top. _"Daddy. I still have your present."_ My breath caught painfully in my throat, though I forced out a smile and declared it time for us to leave. Neither boy protested but while they didn't say anything, I was aware that they had both realised something wasn't quite right.

* * *

I entered the classroom in a daze. Zero and Ichii were right by my side, as usual, but I barely noticed them. My smile was weak and forced. Though Kei didn't notice. She was stuck in the snarling cannibal phrase right now, so I figured it was best to avoid her altogether. Risking a limb was way more stress than I needed right now. Ayumi, on the other hand, had her arms crossed and didn't once spare a look in my direction.

 _Oh. Right. She's still mad at me._

 _Joy._

I just want to state right here, I had actually really been looking forward to spending time with Kei and Ayumi. Because of my hectic life, we hardly saw each other any more, either in school or out. It was a blessing to get the opportunity to meet up, gossip and eat cake, just like before all this craziness began. What's more, Zero and Ichii had even agreed not to hover over me! They had negotiated that they would remain across the other side of the street, though, on constant alert and if anything bad were to happen, they were fully justified to swoop in and save the day. Though, I feel it's necessary to mention that Zero threw a pillow at my face when I muttered about how big his hero-complex was. I feel it's also necessary to mention that it started up a massive pillow fight between the three of us. Yes, even mature, collected Ichii. (In fact, he was the one that won. I call cheat!)

Unfortunately, all the excitement leading up to that moment had been wasted- and even two days on, it was still leaving me pretty depressed. It was, of course, just my luck that San and Forte had merrily decided to spend entire day chasing me around to the brink of exhaustion. It was times like that I wished I could tell my friends everything. Instead, I'd been forced to lie to them. I was such a coward, I'd let them down by text too, while we were running, no less, with a hasty excuse that something bad had happened at the boy's house and they really needed my help. I had promptly switched my phone off then, but when I checked my phone later I had a simple reply of; Ok.

Which was, of course, really bad. It was normally, _No problem,_ or, _Oh, I understand, hope everything turns out okay!_ But that? Just one word. Just an _Ok?_ That meant Ayumi was mad. Seriously, apoplectic with rage. And that rarely happened. Especially when that rage was directed solely at me. But, really, what else could I say? I mean, I couldn't exactly rattle them off a nice informative text, could I? _Soz, guys, busy atm, running 4 my life rn. Nxt week, fo sure. Luv u, ttyl xx._ How ridiculous would that sound? Then again, at least threat against my own life would be a valid reason now after all the lousy excuses I'd given them before. I'd been forced to cancel three times prior to this. By now, my patience was wearing pretty thin. I could only imagine how Kei and Ayumi must be feeling. If I was in their position, I wouldn't be a very happy bunny either.

"Ano... Ayumi... I'm really sorry... About Saturday... I couldn't help it-"

She scoffed at that. "Oh, you couldn't help it? Well, that just fixes everything, now, doesn't it?" I looked hopeful. She crushed that hope right underneath the heel of her shoe. "That was the forth time, Hikari! Not the first. Or the second. The. Forth. But who cares, right? You have Ichii and Zero and suddenly you're too good for us. Now that you have your perfect little followers, you don't want to hang out with us 'Losers' any more, do you? They're practically wrapped around your little finger. It's sick." Both boys tensed. A muscle jumped in Zero's jaw. A quick glance was all that was needed for me to notice that Ichii was having to physically restrain the boy. Ichii while sitting down in the chair, had one leg braced against the opposite table. One foot squarely atop Zero's and the crushing force of his hand around the boy's wrist.

I winced under her biting words, opening my mouth to protest, to defend myself. Kei was sobering up. It seemed like an argument packed the same amount of energy as the extra two cups of coffee she would've needed. "Ayumi... Why are you being so mean?" People were turning to stare now. I could feel my ears turning a delicate shade of scarlet.

"Oh, bite me. Like you're so perfect, Princess Hikari. Where were you when Ken dumped me? Because you sure as hell weren't at my house."

"B-but, I told you! I couldn't... I couldn't get over, remember? That- that wasn't my fault!" And it hadn't been. I'd been forced to hide out from the other examinees. No amount of pleading or begging or downright crying could sway the boys. They felt awful, I knew that. But I was aware that they'd feel even more awful if the examinees tracked us down and me or my friends got hurt in the fight that would inevitably follow.

"Oh, sure, that's what you claim. But then again, you've said something's cropped up every single time! Face it, you high-tailed it the first chance you got! I never thought you'd be the one to ditch us, but here you are, kicking us to the curb. We've been meaning to meet up for ages, now. But you keep making up excuses. Didn't your Daddy teach you it's rude to bail on people at the last minute?" _My Dad._ Those words were a cold, precise strike. Kei's eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open in utter shock. There was a collective gasp that rose up from the surrounding crowd, who had been lapping up the right with eager ears. Ayumi faltered and quickly shouldered a path out, leaving me gaping pathetically. Zero must have caught sight of my wounded expression, because in the next second his hand landed on my shoulder, concern radiating off him in waves.

I bolted. Headed straight for the bathroom where I promptly locked myself into a cubicle, hunkering down as I clutched the locket firmly in my hands, running my fingers all over it, pleading with myself to remain calm, to ride out this horrible, twisting sensation in the pit of my stomach. I knew at once Zero and Ichii had followed me in. I didn't protest as Ichii calmly picked the lock. The door swung open with a creak. We stared at each other for a moment. Then I did something that probably surprised them. I blinked back tears and silently held my arms out. Neither boy hesitated, they both stepped forward and enveloped me in a warm, comforting embrace.

I closed my eyes. The most painful part of this was letting go. Letting go of the urge to push back the rising memory. But that's exactly what I did.

* * *

 _Swinging my feet back and forth, I fidgeted in my chair, eyes impatiently flicking over to the door once more. "Mama! Where is he? Why isn't he home yet?" A light chuckle replied that question as my mother fluttered over from the other side of the room, pretty and delicate like a little butterfly as she gently lifted me up into her arms while the present I had been grasping slipped back down onto the table. I giggled happily as she lovingly pinched my nose, a big, warm smile spread out across her face, revealing her perfect white teeth._

" _He'll be here soon, little one. Just wait a little longer, alright? He must have been caught in some traffic on the way home." Promptly, we sung an improvised tune with no clear beat to ward away those cursed jams, dancing around the kitchen with weird, jarring movements that, if the neighbours had been watching, would've caused great concern for them. Though, that all immediately stopped when I tripped over my feet and scraped my knee. Disbelieved, I stared at it for a moment, as the blood began to trickle out of my wound, before directing my gaze to my mother who had already flitted over to retrieve the first aid kit._

 _She was careful, her feather-touch barely making an impression as she dutifully nursed my injury and applied a band-aid, periodically cracking jokes to cheer me up, until my tears slowed and I began to smile once more. I followed her around, almost as if I were a lost sheep as she bustled around the kitchen to whip up a meal. My mouth was already watering at just the mere thought of it. She was busy slicing the onions when the knife slipped. Blood oozed from her finger in a steady trickle, but she didn't seem fazed as she held it firmly under the kitchen tap._

 _Determined, I dragged over a chair and awkwardly climbed up so I could treat her wound. She chuckled, her smile reaching all the way to her eyes as she allowed me to play doctor and carefully apply a band aid once she'd cleansed the area. "Looks like we're both pretty clumsy today, huh, Hikari?" She said, as she lifted me down and carried me over to the window so we could both peer through to see the empty driveway. "Well, bad luck does come in threes. I suppose-" She was interrupted by the phone. "That must be him, now." I was carefully set down as she went to answer it. I hadn't expected that the phone call would initiate an impromptu adventure._

 _She pulled up at the curb, blind to the double yellow lines. Deaf to me, as I pointed it out. Doors locked, hand grasping mine, she walked right up to the front desk and waited patiently while I glanced around. It smelled funny, like the stuff my mother often made me wash my hands with. And there were people everywhere, some slumped on chairs in various degrees of pain. It was a hospital. When they could've find a babysitter for me, Mother was sometimes forced to bring me to work with her. I liked the other people there. When they had breaks they would often play games with me._

 _We were led down a million halls, a maze that seemed to be never ending. The nurse was talking to my mother, but just one look showed that she could barely hear. Her expression seemed strained. She failed to keep a straight face as she walked through the door. He was lying in one of the big beds, blankets drawn right up to his chin, a weird padding around his head which forced him to stare up at the ceiling. In an instant my mother had pulled up a chair and was sitting beside him. Both hands holding one of his._

 _A flash of light caught my eyes. My mother's wedding ring. It was a pretty little thing, something which I admired greatly. I was, of course, in the stage where shiny, glittery things attracted my attention. But right now, it seemed distorted, warped in some strange, alien way. For the diamonds did appear to be just like broken glass to me. And the tears rapidly flowing down my mothers cheeks were nothing more than fine crystals taking flight. Her hands were shaking, whole body convulsing as if she were in a fit of unstoppable laughter, I dared to step closer._

 _Her eyes never moved from their fixed position. Her lips never spoke my name. She clutched his hand tightly, as if it were her life line. As if that action had the power to keep him rooted in the land of the living and she continued her mantra. "I love, love, love you." That was two more loves than usual. And her whole tone, whole demeanour had morphed. It was almost as if everything was at a crescendo, battling to assault my brain with an incessant barrage of noise. I wondered briefly why the consistent beeps had begun to slow, but pushed the thought out of my mind._

" _Daddy." I said, peeking over the edge of the bed and giving him an experimental poke. He smiled weakly and cupped my cheek with his spare hand. "I still have your present." My hands were holding his now. He was cold. Unusually cold. Innocent, I was far too innocent. I didn't even catch the way the doctor's face fell as I cheerfully requested a blanket to help warm him up. "I forgot to bring it. So you'll have to get better real quick, kay?" My mother's anguished cries were what clued me into the fact that the beeps were even slower. He seemed even weaker now. The hand that had been squeezing mine was almost completely limp._

 _He touched my locket, running his finger over the word engraved on the back._ _ **Smile.**_ _Just a simple, little thing. Something that had already brought me much happiness. "Hikari," His voice, if it hadn't already, was breaking. It was almost too low. Threadbare with exhaustion."Stay strong. Stay happy. Smile. Just keep smiling. I love you, my little Hikari. I love you, Hitomi. I love you. I'll always love..." Attentive, I held on tighter, shaking his hand a little to encourage him to go on. A sharp, high noise rang out around the room. Silence hung in the air, pressing heavily down on the occupants, seeking to crush us right to the very core._

" _Daddy." I prompted. "Daddy. Wake up~" She was leaning on the bed, shoulders shaking from the effort of keeping silent. "Mama... Mama, what's wrong? Are you crying?" I climbed on the chair in order to reach the tissues. She didn't move from her position, not even when I insistently pushed the wad closer to her face. Her wails became louder though, like the death cries of a wounded animal. "Mama!" I exclaimed, feeling panic start to set in. "Mama, what's wrong? What happened? Daddy!" I touched his hand. His eyes were open, unblinking, unmoving. I screamed and stumbled away._

 _Then, numbly, I curled up in a ball and began to cry, barely noticing the fact that a doctor had draped his jacket over me, or the welcomed warmth that it brought. Inside, my heart was completely frozen._

* * *

They remained at my side, even when the warning bell screamed out. Even when lessons started, the three of us were still huddled together on the bathroom floor. Me, slumped into Ichii's side, eyes closed as I tried to stem my cascading tears. Zero, his arm around my shoulders, free hand interlocked with mine, carefully rubbing his thumbs in rhythmic, soothing motions against my skin. I hadn't felt this awful in a long, long time. I was glad they were here, right by my side, lending me their support.

He'd been killed in a traffic accident. Ayumi and Kei both knew. In fact, they had been the ones that pulled me out of my spiralling pit of depression. They were my best friends. They were irreplaceable. Even by people as great as Zero and Ichii. It hurt, even to think that either of them hated me. Even for a second. Because I loved them. I _love_ them- present tense. They are my best friends. I need them. I care about them.

Another sob racked my body. Ichii carefully cupped my head, bringing me closer to his chest. He began to stroke my hair, every movement soft and soothing and full of warmth. "I know," He said quietly as Zero switched to gently rubbing his hand up my arm. "I know. It sucks. But give her time, Hikari. Just give her a little time. It's just a small fight. Me and Zero, we have them practically every day and each time we always managed to settle our differences. Everything will be fixed soon, just you wait and see. In the meantime-" He shuffled into a more comfortable position. "Me and Zero aren't going anywhere."

What had I ever done to deserve them?

* * *

 **A/N:** **And that concludes my 15th Chapter. This is another one outside the usual Anime/Manga plot. It's using an idea that was suggested to me in a review by AJPJweallluvJJ and I really hope you're pleased with how I wrote this. (Also, nice job for anyone who figured out the song that inspired the flashback. Because, damn, it almost makes me cry every time I hear it.)**

 **AJPJweallluvJJ: I'm glad you like it! And that you feel it's realistic, I was a little unsure with it at first, but now I'm feeling pretty pleased. Any thoughts of this chapter? I'm a little worried about it. I may not have stuck to the usual cheery tone the whole franchise usually goes with...**

 **LoveInuyasha22: Thank you! I got a little annoyed at that episode in general, as people can probably see *Sweat drops*. And also: Boom! Bet you didn't expect this! I do like to keep my readers on their toes.**


	16. Jealousy, Part 2

Zero found me curled up on my usual seat on the couch; Tabby snoozing contently on my lap, wrapped loosely in my favourite fluffy red blanket, with my eyes lightly clasped shut, illuminated by the glow of the television screen so that a halo almost seemed to be dancing above my head. My ears tracked Zero as he made his way around the coffee table, which he somehow managed to bump in to (And he has the cheek to call _me_ a Klutz!), to my side and peered intently down. He shifted his weight to the other leg almost awkwardly as he decided the best course of action. Then, I felt his finger hesitantly prod my cheek, his touch lighter than air, as he attempted to rouse me.

Slowly, I teased one eye open, though he didn't notice. Head cocked slightly to the side, he looked almost reminiscent to a curious puppy as he prodded again. I pretended not to stir. It was far too amusing watching Zero struggle to find a gentle way to wake me up. Another couple of prods later, he changed tactics, and whispered my name. "Hikari?" I could barely hear his hushed voice, which instantly mixed with the small buzz emanating from the television. I allowed my other eye to flutter open and greeted him with a shallow, ghost of a smile as my gaze returned to the flickering images on the screen. Upon seeing my downcast expression, Zero's eyes creased with concern. Tabby gave a content sigh and burrowed her head further under my hand. In response, I caressed her soft, silvery ear which elicited a happy purr from the kitten.

"There was an attack in Brussels." I said, quietly. His grip tightened on the arm of the couch, yet he said nothing. Instead, Zero merely gave a small nod of acknowledgement, prompting me to continue. "A couple of bombs went off at an airport. They hit the Metro too, during rush hour... So far, more than thirty people have died, and many more are injured." Zero set himself heavily down next to me. His feet instantly raised up to rest on the table, which in normal circumstances, I would've scolded him for. Right now, I just didn't have the energy to bother. "I don't understand," I allowed my eyes to fall downwards to the peaceful form of my dozing kitten. "They were innocent people; they hadn't done anything wrong! Why would someone do something like that? It's awful. And to think, those people had families of their own, they don't deserve this kind of pain. It's not right... Zero, what's the point of it all?"

He sighed and stretched his arms high above his head, eyes trained solely on his hands as he spread the fingers wide, before he lowered them back down, one resting behind him on the back of the couch. "I don't know, Hikari. Maybe the whole point is that there isn't one at all." His eyes drifted over to me for a second as he gave a shallow, humourless laugh, before focusing once more on the images playing across the screen. "It's a load of crap, really. I mean, those who use religion as an excuse to murder, they're below human beings." His hand wearily combed through his hair. He didn't protest as I flattened down the unruly locks in an almost motherly manner. "To be honest, I don't understand either. In no way does any religion promote violence... If anything, Islam, Christianity, you name it, they promote peace; and yet some people feel the need to twist the words to justify things like this. They don't care about who they hurt, Hikari, as long as they believe they've completed, well, what ever delusional vision they set out to achieve... It really is awful... All that suffering, and for what?"

The house was completely silence, as if it had been holding it's breath, listening intently to the boy. I jumped as the windows rattled. A high, sharp whistling became apparent as the wind whipped through small cracks in the house. Zero's gaze drifted back to me as he lightly squeezed my cheek between his thumb and forefinger, his lips clearly displaying a small smile. It seemed weak, fragile even, but that's what made it all the more precious. "Hey," He said, his own skin fleetingly flushed with colour. "Don't frown; I hate it when you're sad. Just smile. It's really what you're best at. One of your smiles does wonders to improve even the worst moods. You've got to cheer everyone up, okay? Make them see that life is still worth living, and when we grow up, we'll change this for sure. All of this unnecessary killing will be a thing of the past."

He reached over and gently scratched Tabby underneath her ear. I stared at him, eyes brimming with wonder. "Do you really think that'll happen, Zero?"

He smiled back. A real, bright smile that flushed my whole body with warmth. "I sure as hell hope it will."

* * *

I burrowed further under the blankets, clamping a pillow over my ears as I attempted to blot out the awful ringing of my alarm clock. I groaned in obvious reluctance, curling up tighter as I felt an insistent volley of tugs start up at the edge of my sanctuary. I ignored them with remarkable stubbornness. The continued with remarkable persistence. Neither of us seemed to be willing to cave, but eventually, they just stopped. A long sigh followed, before I heard what was unmistakably an evil little snicker. Instantly alert, I began to unravel myself from my cocoon to peek out at my surroundings. And that, of course, was my fatal mistake.

The blankets were seized and a small opening was created in which my alarm was promptly shoved through while I wrestled to stay hidden in my bundle. Released, I scurried back to my warmth. The ringing was at an awful crescendo and no matter how much I squirmed, I couldn't quite kick it away, or alternatively hit the button to cease the incessant noise. So, I fell back on the only option I had left and flung the blankets away.

Zero was perched on my desk, one foot resting on the seat of my chair while the other was braced against the back, he looked very nonchalant as he chomped on an apple most likely purged from my kitchen. Zero was, of course, an expert at sneaking down there and borrowing food, which Ichii often scolded him for, regardless of if he replaced it with another later. After taking another bite, I could spot what was most definitely an evil grin on his face. I shot him the best faux scowl I could muster up and rummaged for my alarm which I located fairly easily. Noise gone, I launched my pillow at Zero's face, which he caught one-handed with effortless grace. "That was pathetic." He teased, as he lightly threw his apple core into the bin. I took a leaf out of Zero's immaturity book and puffed out my cheeks, blowing a raspberry in return.

The pillow sailed back and landed cleanly on my lap. Zero was already up, leaning casually against the desk as he waited for me to stop fussing over my clothes. I had a habit of smoothing down the fabric of my over sized tee shirt. That was another habit I'd fallen in to, wearing long shirts and old shorts to bed. I'd had my fair share of the boys wandering in and unexpectedly catching me in embarrassing pyjamas, now this would put a stop to that altogether. Zero kindly escorted me to their room so I could collect my uniform. I straightened the lapels of Ichii's shirt- the older boy looking more zombie than human at this current time- before Zero left to excitedly run off into another part of their house and I returned to me own room where I, with cheerful disregard of tidiness, dumped my uniform on my bed.

I yawned and stretched so I looked vaguely reminiscent to a cat, before lightly skipping across my room and drawing the curtains to allow the mellow hues of dawn to flood my room. Sighing contently, I allowed my head to lightly rest against the cool glass as I peered out at the street below me that glowed from the fiery rays of sunlight peeking out from behind the seemingly fluffy, white clouds.

I wasn't expecting the sudden darkness that enveloped me. Blind, half subdued and not entirely awake, I struggled valiantly to free myself. I figured that if I managed to release my hand, I had a better chance of seizing a weapon to beat my attacker senseless with. _Damn it! These guys should know better than to attack me in my own house._ Of course, being a couple of inches taller didn't exactly give me much more leverage to work with, so it was quite easy for me to be swung off the ground. My mouth was appropriately covered before I'd even fully processed the idea to scream for help. After a few seconds of blind struggling, arching my back and kicking my feet out desperately, I stopped. Taking deep breaths, I focused my attention of remembering everything the boys taught me. What appeared to be the perfect idea sprung to my mind. But then, as sudden as my panic arrived, it dissipated. After all, the strength of these arms, the comforting warmth the embrace brought was far too familiar to be deadly.

Zero. I knew it was Zero, because even though he was doing an excellent job at being gentle- he seemed to have improved several levels in that area since we first met- as he carried me across the room, he still couldn't quite match up to Ichii's tenderness. The older boy seemed to reserve his utmost care when it came to handling things he deemed to be fragile and precious, one of which I could undoubtedly assume was myself. Once, I remember falling asleep not entirely on him, but slumped against his side in the car as we returned to my house from some outing. Ichii had cradled me so gently, it was almost as if he believed I were made of china. Due to unfortunate circumstances, Zero had been the one to wake me from my admittedly peaceful sleep after he tripped over the doormat. Evidently, he also had significant Klutz qualities, which I helpfully managed to point out even in my drowsy state. Both Ichii and my mother had been fairly amused at that, something which I allowed myself to be a little proud of for a full five minutes after.

I was deposited with gentle insistence in front of my mirror. I caught a flash of blue as Zero whipped the blanket away from me and promptly wrapped himself up in once more. However, I was forced to stifle my giggles as he smacked his head against the wall while attempting to discretely turn off the lights. On his second attempt, he managed to do so without misfortune. With that task completed, he used dramatic force to pull the sheet away and instantly lunged for my neck. The movement was so unexpected, I gave a small shriek and tripped over my own feet, my eyes noticing the little gleam of his teeth as I fell. His face was split with a wicked grin that perfectly displayed the fake vampire teeth he had inserted, which explained the earlier weirdness. "I am Count Zero," He declared, securing the blanket around his neck in the form of a makeshift cape. "Fear me!"

He then proceeded to dive around my room, the cape streaming out behind him, interacting with all kinds of objects for the sole purpose of making me laugh. He must have noticed that I was still feeling pretty glum over the argument with my friends and took it upon himself to make me happy once more. Ichii must have heard me, that would be the only explanation for him curiously poking his head around the door. I doubled over at his surprised expression and the way he instantly ducked out of sight once he spotted Zero. I could hear him, though, even from here. He was laughing so hard it probably hurt.

Zero continued this little charade until he tripped over the edge on the blanket. He looked rather endearing as he stared up at me with an expression of honest confusion. Zero's brain apparently hadn't quite caught up yet, so the boy couldn't quite comprehend why he was now sprawled out across the floor. He accepted my hand, though, and I pulled him back up. Ichii gave a small, warning knock and entered even before I'd said anything, and his face still vaguely red from his little hysterics fit. I was observant enough to catch him having to smother a fresh wave of chuckles upon seeing Zero once more, though he managed to pull himself together as he discarded the blankets on my bed, gave me a warm smile and promptly guided Zero out of the room so I could change in peace.

* * *

Spotting the familiar raven locks, I placed my brightest smile on my face and lightly jogged over, deaf to the boy's confusion as they hastily followed. Taking a deep breath to steel my nerves, I ploughed towards Ayumi, determined to settle our differences. Evidently, Kei saw me first, as she gave me a secret smile. Ayumi, on the other hand remained with her back firmly facing me, though I noticed her picking at her nails. "Ayumi." I said, mentally cursing at the small tremor in my voice. "I... I'm sorry about yesterday... About the fight... I really, really am... I really did try to make it this time... But something came up, I'm sorry..." Hope sparked in my heart as she turned. Hesitated. A second later and the gleam in her eyes was nothing more than decisive.

That hope beginning to blossom was instantly extinguished when she brushed roughly past me, knocking me back into the lockers. Zero instantly went to square her up. Ichii easily restrained him with effortless grace. "Kei." There was an authoritative note in her voice as she paused, just shy of the exit. She didn't bother to glance behind though, she was confident that Kei would follow without protest. Even the boys, in their short time of knowing the girl, knew that orders and Kei mixed just as well as oil and water. However, after rolling her eyes, shrugging and mouthing a small apology to me, she calmly obeyed.

She did seem to have alternative motives, though. As I sadly watched her retreating back, I could see the distinct blow she delivered to punish the brooding girl's idiocy. She did this by using her favourite move, and harshly whacked Ayumi upside the head. Her tone was unmistakably one of scolding, though in the vast din of noise emanating from the other students, I couldn't quite hear her clearly.

* * *

"Ayumi," I said brightly as I settled down in my usual seat. "Hi, I-" I broke off as the girl opened her mouth, hesitated, then hastily crossed her arms and turned away. "Ano... A-Ayumi?" She didn't even waver this time. "A-Ayumi!" Once more, I was blanked. Biting my lip, I swivelled back around to face the front, shoulders slumped in defeat. _How am I supposed to apologise if she keeps ignoring me like this? Oh... Never mind, I'll just have to try a lot harder next time._

To my right, I noticed Zero was attempting to catch my eye. He jerked his head behind, towards the two girls seated behind. His message seemed clear; _Want me to sort her out?_ I carefully shook my head. Getting the boys involved wouldn't help to solve anything. In fact, it would just prove that I was a useless, dependent weakling. I had to face this problem on my own. Well, with a little help from Kei, of course, as I could just about hear her angry tone, and assumed she was berating Ayumi. Though, that didn't really do much to improve my mood.

Slumping further across my desk, head lazily propped up in my hand, eyes completely unfocused, I was barely listening to the rambling of my teacher as I gave another shallow sigh. Twirling my pen didn't help ease my boredom, or the intense pain that was twisting in my heart, but I still did it anyway. A small, barely audible cough caught my attention. It appeared to be coming from close to me. I ignore it though, as I was far too busy with my self-loathing to do much else. However, after a second more insistent bought of throat-clearing followed, I allowed my gaze to shift to my left, where Ichii was currently situated.

He regarded me with an expression brimming with concern and after giving a small moment to see the teacher's current location, discretely scribbled a message of a small strip of paper he had obviously torn from the back of his book. Evidently, a second cautious look was necessary, as he wasted precious seconds doing so, before tossing the note over once he'd deemed it safe to. I opened it half-heartedly, my eyes barely reading the words as I skimmed the text. _Are you okay, Hikari? You're looking a little pale._ After meeting his eyes, I shot him the biggest and best of the most brightest smiles I could muster up and carefully nodded.

To be honest, I was feeling terrible. But there was really no need to worry the poor boy over something so minor.

* * *

Gym class. Exactly what I needed right now- a full hour of clumsiness, pain and making a complete fool of myself. I just couldn't wait to get started. Though, as I glanced over my shoulder to locate my friends, figuring I'd at least give another attempt to cross the crevasse between me and Ayumi, my heart contracted with... jealously? Emiko, our class's resident Alpha bitch seemed perfectly at home chatting to _my_ friends. Kei didn't look at all pleased, she'd fixed the girl with a smouldering glare that perfectly showed just how welcome she was there. Even Ayumi had the decency to look awkward. But then, to my horror, she actually started _talking_ to her.

I busied myself with tying up my shoes- I'd left before I'd put them on properly, too worried about being left behind to even spare a second thought about how I might trip or how the boys would scold me if they had seen- though I instantly shifted my gaze when my name was called. Tossing her glossy hair over her shoulder, Emiko lightly said. "Hey, Hikari, I hope you don't mind, but I'll be borrowing your friends," She smirked, which in that lipstick was Wicked-Witch-of-The-West evil. "Well, it's not like they're really you're friends any more, are they?"

I fantasised for a few seconds about planting my shoe squarely in the middle of Emiko's pouty, perfect smile. Instead, I simply blinked, raised one eyebrow in a small arch and turned away, shaking my head slightly. Obviously, that was a very big insult to the girl, who I assume had been expecting me to run off crying or something ridiculous. Unfortunately for her, I'd matured a whole lot since the start of the year. Spiteful little comments from people like _her_ didn't hurt me any more. "Hey, have you gone mute or something? Answer me, freak!" Instead, I began tapping my foot against the ground and took up a familiar tune to whistle, looking every bit as serene as I'd planned. "This is why you have no friends."

I cleared my throat. Noisily. And slowly pirouetted on my heels to face her, an amused smile playing on my lips. "Usually people ignore things that aren't worth their time." I said ever so sweetly, revelling in the way her cheeks flushed a blotchy red. "Take a hint." And then, I sashayed off, as if I were the Queen of Everything, never mind Tokyo. Though, I soon realised that insolence like that was certain to be punished. I got my just deserts soon enough.

As a light warm up, we were given two laps around the outside of the room. I figured this wasn't too bad, even if I was running alone. A few boys entered to collect some equipment left here for the boy's lesson and they shamelessly catcalled some of the girls, which left them flushed with embarrassment and throwing insults back. Then, unexpected, my world flipped upside-down as I tripped rather dramatically over a conveniently placed foot. Two girls nearby sniggered meanly and jogged off, leaving me in a heap. A couple girls gave me concerned looks, though none of them paused to assess my condition. Ai, one of the kindest little girl's I'd ever had the fortune of meeting, knelt down next to me. "You okay, Hikari? Do you think you can walk?" Truthfully, I was perfectly fine, but I figured that if those girls knew that, they'd try to hurt me again. So, I screwed my face up with pain and slowly shook my head.

The boys had already disappeared by the time Ai guided me to one of the benches. I was quite surprised when both Zero and Ichii arrived at the door, appearing to have sprinted to here from the field in about ten seconds flat by the way they were panting. Ichii was the first to drift over. "We heard you tripped," he said. Zero's hand was cradling his side. I briefly wondered whether he had a stitch. It seemed so, as he settled heavily down next to me. "Are you okay?" I smiled, touched at their concern and nodded in reply.

"You're such a Klutz," Zero teased, shifting my _injured_ foot onto is lap as he gently inspected it for serious injuries. His touch was lighter than air, and hands were cold which soothed the tiny ache that had flared up. "The skin's a little warm, but there's no swelling, so I think safe to say that she'll be okay." Zero was being extra careful as he lowered it back down the the ground. He seemed to believe I had become some fragile being in the space of just a few seconds. "Only you could manage something like this." I puffed out my cheeks and stuck my tongue out at him. Zero playfully ruffled my hair in response.

"Does it hurt at all? Should I take you to the infirmary?" Ichii asked, his eyes brimming with worry. Insistently, I shook my head. I'd taken far too many trips there in this year. I didn't think I could survive going there again."Alright... But, tell me if it does start to get worse. We could get you an ice pack, or maybe some painkillers, I'm sure they would help."

"I'm okay, Ichii. Really, I am. And, yeah, I'll be sure to let you know. Thank you for worrying about me."

While my Sensei was generally accepting of many things, like my clumsy, shy disposition, she couldn't exactly allow the two boys to skip their lessons and gently advised them to return. Once her back was turned, Zero pulled a couple of faces, which showed just how pleased he was about that. They lingered long enough for Ichii to pat my head and promise that they would collect me as soon as they could and for Zero to chip me under the chin and affectionately call me a Klutz once again before they were gone, leaving me staring longingly at the door, wishing they would return. I was left bored out of my mind for the rest of the lesson, sometimes dodging wayward balls that seemed almost too perfectly aimed to be a mistake. Especially since they always originated from the two girls that tripped me earlier.

After it had finally finished, Kei and Ayumi hung back to collect some equipment, it needed to be hauled back to the little storage shed just hidden out of sight from the main building. Since they were sensible, they were chosen to go off to do it. I remained on the bench until my Sensei drifted over to talk to me. I managed to convince her that I was perfectly able to carry the small bucket of baseball bats over to the shed after I stated that there was a higher chance for me being devoured by a mutated two headed slug than to collapse. Of course, I had been so persistent for only one reason. That way those stupid popular girls would've hopefully moved on from the changing room by the time I got back.

As I got closer to the shed, I could hear angry voices. Feeling nervous, I slowly edged closer. Ayumi and Kei were concerned by three much taller, obviously older guys. _They're wearing High school uniforms But why are High school guys here?_ "What the hell is your problem?" Kei spat, the sports bag she had been carrying already forgotten on the floor. "Get out of our way, we don't have time for you losers." Evidently, that was a big mistake. She was seized by the throat and shoved against the nearest convenient tree so fast, I could barely register the movement.

"This must be the annoying one Emiko was talking about." His voice was scornful as he addressed his friends. "Do you know why we're here, _little girl_? Emiko decided your friend hadn't received a big enough punishment. So what better was is there to make her suffer, than to hurt her friends?"Kei's eyes widened, though she was staying remarkably calm. Hand trembling slightly, she raised it high enough to grip his wrist and squeezed. Hard. The guy, on the other hand, didn't falter one bit. "Is that the best you can do?" Her hands were pinned high above her head before I could even blink. "Now... Let's see, what should we do first? Any ideas, little one?" Ayumi gave a start and began hurriedly backing away as the other two closed in on her. Tears were already pouring heavy and fast down her now porcelain cheeks.

Fury like I'd never felt before flared up. Hot, smouldering anger pumped through my body and I certain vein at my temple began to throb. A dark aura almost seemed to roll off me in big, black waves and I could feel my whole body shaking with the effort to remain calm. "Hey," I snarled, tapping the baseball bat against my leg with as much nonchalance as I could muster up. All sets of eyes focused on me. I'd found my first target and he was going to regret ever putting his hands on Kei. "I'd really appreciate it if you could kindly _get the hell away from my friends._ "

"Aw," The tallest guy chuckled obnoxiously, glancing over his shoulder to get a few half-hearted laughs from his pals as he took a couple of strides forwards to size me up. "How touching, the shrimp's trying to protect her _precious_ friends." He said, as his upper lip curled into a nasty sneer that look quite out of place on his otherwise boyishly cute face. Narrowing my eyes dangerously, I couldn't manage to stifle the low growl that rose in my throat. I wished I did though, as it only seemed to induce amusement for Ego guy. "You're really cute when you do that, you know? You sound like a really fierce kitten." _And I thought Zero's ego was bad. This guy is way too cocky for his own good._

"I highly advice you not to piss me off." I replied, taking up a clumsy batting stance and wishing I'd previously had the sense to have paid more attention in phys ed. "You see, I'm running out of places to hide the bodies." He smirked, seemingly unconcerned about the distance he was crossing, before Ego guy broke out into a steady sprint. It was all too easy for me to dodge his clumsy lunge. And the second one that followed. "You know what? I don't need this." I'd decided that I'd rather rearrange this guy's features with my own two hands and I promptly tossed the baseball bat to Kei, who dropped rather hurriedly into the same stance I had used earlier, albeit more gracefully than myself. "I think it's time to show you that this little kitten has claws. And I promise, you won't be smirking so much once I use them."

I was like a reed bending gracefully in the wind. Swiftly, easily I dodged blow after blow. It was so seemingly effortless for me, that it was almost as though I were performing so elaborate interpretive dance. By now, Ego guy was getting more and more frustrated by his inability to floor such a shrimpy opponent such as myself. I could only imagine how humiliated he must've been feeling at this exact moment. I didn't spare much of my valuable time pondering this thought, though. I had much more important matters to attend to. Handing this guy his ass didn't really sit very high on my list of priorities. His knee rose up. I used one hand to push it down and with my other, I smashed the palm right underneath his chin. Knocked off balance and in quite a bit of pain, Ego guy had no way to defend himself against the two palm strikes that followed. They met their target and struck him firmly in the chest and then I swept his legs out from under him. Stunned and lying flat against the ground, I stomped hard on his chest, pushing the air out of his lungs and leaving him gasping pathetically to regain his lost breath. "I told you, messing with my friends is a big mistake!"

Turning my back on remaining enemies was also a textbook big mistake. Something which I had just done. Blatantly. So, of course, I really should've been expecting to be grabbed from behind. Hoisted high in the air, I squirmed, arching my back and kicking out desperately, but it was useless. He was far too strong. His four-eyed friend was smirking, advancing slowly, savouring the way my eyes warily followed his every move. He was far too close. Face almost directly touching my own, manic grin taking up nearly all of his features. I wondered briefly whether it would be acceptable for me to fall into the typical Hollywood defiance mode. Maybe headbutt him. Or spit in his face. Just something to show that I was not broken. That I will continue to fight back with all my power. "Have we got things in store for you." Cold. Sharp. Low and decisively deadly. His tone sent a horrible shiver up my entire body.

"Hey! Douchebag!" Kei had timed that awfully precisely. So, with my golden opportunity, I did exactly what I had been pondering and drove forward with as much force as I could muster up. Glasses smashed, and head spinning, he was knocked off stride. I mercilessly kicked him in rather tender area. With a small nod from Kei, she quickly tossed the bat over, which I instantly used to free myself. In various degrees of pain, the boy moaned and clutched their injuries. I didn't hesitate to finish them. Kicking and punching, I struck out until none of the three dared raise themselves back off the ground to continue fighting.

My heart was still thumping wilding in my chest, but by now, the adrenaline that had allowed me to have such quick reflexes was wearing off. Gasping for breath, I collapsed on the ground, my shaking legs unable to hold me up any longer. I shivered as a trail of icy sweat dribbled down my back. I couldn't even summon the energy necessary to raise my head as Ayumi carefully edged closer. Nor to feel too elated as she flung her arms around me, the tears flowing even faster now as she squeezed me tightly. "Thank you. T-Thank you, I thought they w-were going to... Oh, G-God. Hikari, I'm so s-sorry. I was so a-awful to you and you still d-didn't even hesitate to he-help us. I don't d-deserve you at a-all. Please, p-please, Hikari. I'm s-so sorry. Please forgive me. I-I've been wanting to a-apologise all day. B-But, I said such awful things, a s-simple apology would never make up f-for it. Dammit! Why am I s-so stupid?"

"Ayumi... Are your parents fighting again?"

She hesitated for a moment, before the wails began. "This is it. T-They don't even c-care any more! They're g-going to get a d-divorce for sure. And they p-promised! They said they w-wouldn't leave me!" She dissolved into even more anguished sobs, while I collected the events nicely in my head. _Ayumi must've been feeling awful for a while, but instead of telling us, she bottled it up. That would explain why she got so upset over me having to cancel- she feels as if she's losing everything. Me being unable to show up would only strengthen those feelings. The arguing must have become even worse by the time we got back to school, so Ayumi really must've been at the end of her tether. She was crying out for help when she was yelling at me, wanting me to realise something was wrong. But of course, with that little comment about... my Dad... I couldn't stay and Ayumi felt so awful she began to avoid me at all costs. I guess it all makes sense. Especially about Kei. She must have realised something was wrong and became the mediator towards us. After all, if Ayumi was still depressed about hurting me, she would never be able to reveal her secret and we would never be able to help her._

"It's okay, Ayumi. We're here for you. We'll always be here for you, okay? Whenever it gets too much, you're always welcome to stay at mine, you know that, don't you?"

Ayumi sniffled and swiped furiously at her eyes. "H-huh? Does that mean... you forgive me? After everything I-I did?"

"Yeah. But only if you promise never to get jealous of the relationship I have with the boys, again."

"Oh, Hikari. That was so stupid of me, fighting over something like that. I know how much they mean to you, and they're so good to you. They've been looking out for you so much and because of them, you've grown so much more confident. I bet it's down to them that you were able to floor these guys, wasn't it?" I flushed and sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck, before giving a small nod of confirmation. "You need them. They need you, too. I guess I got so used to it just being the three of us... I never thought things would change so quickly. But... It's the five of us now, isn't it? They're not taking you away, but you're bringing them in. Expanding our horizons, right? They're not going to weaken the friendship between the three of us... They're going to make the bond stronger... And you're planning for them to become our friends, too. Right, Hikari?"

"Alright, now you've all kissed and made up, how about the three of us go shoot dead things at my house?" We were all in agreement that a little Zombie fighting was exactly what we needed right about now.

* * *

I spent a total of three hours relaxing a Kei's, only after I'd sent a nice informative text to my mother explaining where I'd be. Mainly, I ate popcorn and dished out appropriate encouragements here and there, while also being the strange conversation topic starter, which produced a fair amount of laughs from the girls. Ayumi was even more involved in the game than Kei, screaming orders that were, for the most part, blindingly obvious. Kei seemed to be fairly good at multi-tasking, as she constantly switched between actually playing the game, gracefully chomping down on big handfuls of popcorn and playfully yelling back at Ayumi.

When we seemed to have overstayed out welcome, both myself and Ayumi bid Kei farewell and walked home together. Ayumi gave me another big, bone crushing hug as she dropped me off at my house, apologising once again, before starting to jog in the opposite direction, with me waving cheerful as she went. Upon coming inside, I was greeting by my mother. Excited, I bounded over. Apparently, her shift had ended early today, which allowed her to arrive home and spend more quality time with me. I decided to make a quick trip upstairs to change.

Zero and Ichii were waiting when I opened the door. The former was sprawled across my bed and didn't even look up as I entered, he just continued to throw the rubber ball up and down as if he were solely interested in that activity. Ichii, on the other hand, was peacefully reading. "Hey," Zero said, his voice colder than ice. "Guess you forgot to call and tell us you weren't dead in a ditch." Those words were enough to let me know that Zero had been especially panicked at my disappearance. Of course, with everything that happened, I'd completely forgotten about the boy's promise to take me home after the lesson had ended.

"Hikari, don't you have a cell phone so you're able to stay in touch with others? It doesn't really do much good if you fail to answer it." Carefully, I took the device out of my pocket. The attempted calls were in double digits and they'd left a whole array of worried messages pleading for me to call them back. The guilt twisted painfully in my stomach. "Luckily, we came here first and Asahina-san helpfully informed us where you were."

"I'm really sorry for disappearing on you like that... I completely forgot that we were supposed to meet up... A lot of stuff happened, it just completely slipped my mind... High schools sorta caused some problems but I managed to sort them out... And I made up with Ayumi?"

Zero stood up, walked over and affectionately chipped me under the chin. Ichii followed up with a classic ruffling of the hair. "Hikari, we were worried because some older guys were found beat up near the storage shed. We thought something awful had happened to you. Maybe that you'd been kidnapped or something? Now we know not to get on your bad side. You can just kick ass pretty well for someone so Shrimpy."

"You shouldn't say that, Zero." I replied, playfully. "The last person that teased me ended up knocked out."

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter is very late and I apologise greatly for it. Recently there have been attacks in Brussels and Lahore, Pakistan and I felt I should addresses this matter in my story. My heart goes out to all the people that were injured or killed and all the families of the victims that have been affected in this tragedy. Acts like these are truly unforgivable. People should never be made to suffer like this.**

 **LoveInuyasha22: Thank you. Disappointed that I didn't manage to bring on the waterworks, but I'll try harder next time! I hope you like this chapter as well.**

 **AJPJwellluvJJ: I'm glad you still felt it was realistic! It would be good to hear you view about this chapter too.**


	17. He Is Me And I Am Him? Part 1

Absently thumbing through the pages of my textbook, I allowed myself a moment to relax and take a quick glance at the world outside these hallowed halls.

The sky was clear- not blemished by even a single spattering of white- and displaying a proud blue that outshone even the most honourable of man-made hues. The sun, a cheerful mellow ball of incessant energy stood tall; golden rays spilled down through the glass, causing a pleasant warmth to settle right into the very depths of my bones, and every object the light touched seemed to glow with an almost heavenly grace. While the windows were latched tightly shut, the gentle swaying of the waltzing trees foretold a peaceful breeze that would most likely carry the fresh scent of flowers.

Sighing contently, I allowed my gaze to shift to the right, towards two of the most loyal people I had ever had the fortune of meeting.

Zero was slumped in his chair, posture aggressively poor, as usual. Though, surprisingly, his eyes were focused and he looked fairly attentive as he chewed thoughtfully on the end of his pencil. The sight of him had me struggling to suppress a smile. Normally, Zero didn't seem to be too bothered with paying much attention in class, it was a nice change for him to be actually interested in something for once.

Ichii, on the other hand, was upright and seemed perfectly relaxed, his supple frame leaning low over the desk as he propped his head up with his hand, dutifully taking notes, his pen gliding across the paper with perfect precision; expression blissful, serene even. I had always envied Ichii's elegant script. It seemed so effortless for him, to pour his heart down upon a page, his hand neat and without fault. While I knew I was no slouch myself, it was hard not to desire the slanted curl to his letters that seemed beyond my grasp.

Struggling to fight back a yawn, Ichii's eyes wandered slightly. Upon noticing me, he flashed a warm smile in my direction and carefully nodded his head- a sign which I had recently began to recognise as him asking for my condition. _I'm okay,_ I mouthed back. He seemed satisfied with my answer, if the small quirk of his lips was anything to go by. After assuring the safety of our covert conversation, he gestured down to his book; I somewhat understood what he was implying. _You need to borrow these?_

Although, the insistent tapping at the window did interrupt my reply. I suppose it was extremely lucky that Zero had such quick reflexes. In all honesty, anyone would be startled if they noticed someone perched on a second-story windowsill only mere inches from oneself, so I believe I had every right to be so startled that my chair tipped over as I emitted a small shriek. Though, Zero easily waded in to the rescue and managed to push it back onto all four legs, preventing me from harming myself. "Yakumo, that's dangerous!" Before either boy could stop me, I was instantly unlatching the window and ushering the boy into the classroom. "Get inside before you fall!"

"What are _you_ doing here?" Zero didn't sound very impressed. Then again, when it came to other examinees, he _never_ sounded impressed.

"Me? I've just come to pick Hikari up, as promised." My confusion must not have been as evident as I believed, since Yakumo missed it entirely. Zero, on the other hand, simply shrugged. It seemed he had reached the point where he no longer could summon the energy to question anyone's motives, in fear of permanently breaking his face from the face-palm that would most likely follow.

"So, I'll just be borrowing Hikari." I was promptly seized around the waist. "Don't worry-" The pencil case that I whacked him over the head with didn't have any effect. "She'll be safe with me-" Most likely because it was Ayumi's rather harmless rubber Lucky Star one. "See ya!" Zero blindly reached for me and was so surprised at actually managing to grasp my hand that he promptly let go.

And then cursed loudly when he realised his mistake.

To say that Ichii was not amused would be putting it lightly.

Zero had to execute a full blown flying tackle to prevent him from vaulting out the window after us. "This is so not the time for your gallant suicide attempt, Ichii!" The two of them briefly disappeared from sight as they hit the deck.

Zero rose first, dragging Ichii up by his collar and pointing directly at the centre of Yakumo's chest, looking every bit as ferocious as a feral tiger. "I swear, Yakumo, when we find you-" Cheeks flushed with anger, blue eyes blazing, he looked every bit a perfect, avenging angel. "Dammit, if there's even one scratch on that girl, you're going to regret it!"

Upon noticing the height I was currently at, I screamed and scrambled into the centre of the boat, clasping my hands tightly over my ears. The pain in Ichii's eyes was unmistakeable. Curling up, I focused almost entirely on my breathing, forcefully keeping it steady, even when it felt as if my throat was constricted. Even when it seemed like there was not enough oxygen to support me.

I continued to focus.

 _Breathe in. Hold. Out. Hold._ Over and over and over, until I could almost convince myself that I was safe.

* * *

The ruffles on my swimsuit rustled as a gentle wind snaked across the golden sand. Grinning broadly, Yakumo swung around to face me, obviously expecting some kind of massive praise for his _ingenious_ idea.

"What do you think, Hikari?" Instead, I rewarded him with a smack upside the head courtesy of the shockingly blue flip flops that had been provided for me. I supposed they matched pretty well with the blue and white polka dot tank top and skirt combo I had going on right now. Even I had to admit, it _was_ pretty cute.

" _What do you think_ my butt!" I exclaimed, promptly throwing it down in exasperation. "You can't just do stuff like this as you please, Yakumo. Suddenly taking me to a place like this- during school no less- it's... it's..." Evidently, I could not locate the appropriate word to fully convey the enormity of the situation, or the full extent of my irritation, so I busied myself with folding my arms and sharply turning my back on him, like the immature child that I was.

"Oh, you look so cute!" He said, sheepishly rubbing his neck as he admired the outfit Nanase had supplied me with. I resolutely refused to meet his gaze. "Now, now, don't sulk that much Hikari. It doesn't suit you at all. Come on, don't let your cuteness go to waste!" Determined to be as stubborn as possible until the boys arrived- for I was quite certain I would just cause more problems if I attempted to return by myself as I would surely become lost in this unfamiliar neighbourhood- I nudged his hand away as he went to throw his arm around my shoulders. Seemingly undeterred by that admittedly harsh reaction, he beamed even brighter. "It's true, I swear. Hikari's the cutest on the beach! ...Though, I would've been happier if your breasts were a bit bigger..."

I couldn't prevent the hot red that flushed my cheeks as I quickly crossed my arms over my chest.

"What does that have to do with anything? I'm still just a kid, aren't I? Yakumo... You're... You're such a jerk! " I cried, stumbling slightly as I backed away. Yakumo, apparently catching on that he had made a mistake, followed. "No, stay away from me!" Before he could even think to apologise, my anger took hold and I smacked him across the face, turned tail and ran straight into what seemed at first to be a brick wall.

Upon further inspection, I found that that brick wall was actually Zero who promptly tugged me to what he deemed to be a safe distance, glaring daggers over my shoulder at Yakumo as he did so. Even Rokka and San looked marginally pissed off. Both had their hands on their hips and heads high the air, looking maddeningly superior, though I suppose the real cause for concern came from Gou and Forte who were both flanking their sides, arms crossed, expressions just daring Yakumo to take even one step closer.

"Hikari! Hey, are you okay?" Ichii crouched down to my line of sight and rested a comforting hand on my shoulder, his expression far beyond the mildly concerned that I expected it to be. "You're not hurt at all?" I carefully shook my head, feeling my heart swell with relief. He allowed a moment to fully take in my attire. "What on Earth- Why are you- What the hell happened to your uniform?" I had never seen Ichii look so distrustful. Though, I suppose finding me in entirely different clothing to before was hardly reassuring. "They... They didn't do anything weird to you, did they?"

I didn't have time to reply. "Hey! You're making me out to be a pervert." Yakumo pouted, a red welt now forming from where I struck him earlier. I couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt rising in my stomach. After all, it wasn't exactly necessary for me to use that much force, since Yakumo had no intention of harming me.

Ichii scoffed loudly and protectively extended an arm to keep me safely behind him, though it wasn't all too important, as Zero had refused to release his grip on me. On his remaining hand, he easily tacked up the numerous offences that had been committed.

"Let's see... Taking a _young girl_ out of school _without permission_ , bringing her to the beach _by force_ and _making_ her wear a swimsuit. Wouldn't you think that was plenty evidence to call _anyone_ a pervert? While there's already three solid reasons there, that mark on your face is _also_ suspicious; only Hikari's little hand could have done that. Either _you_ made some insensitive comment or she put up a fight to _escape you_. And _I'm_ leaning more on the latter. After all, when we got here, she _was_ running away from you, _wasn't she_?" The gloves were apparently off. Ichii wasn't even hesitating, his words cut sharp and clean, each one precisely selected to cause maximum damage.

"Don't talk in a way to make people purposely misjudge me!" Catching me in a fluid embrace, Yakumo managed to separate me from the Ichii and Zero while they were briefly distracted with sharing equally exasperated looks. "Anyway, Hikari's playing with us today!"

"Don't say selfish things like that!" Ichii said, grasping my arm and tugging with just enough force release me. Though, I simply refused to be shunted behind the boys and instead was sandwiched between them in such a way it seemed near impossible for me to be dragged away once more. "You seriously expect us to just let you guys hang around her? After you just practically abducted her?"

"Well, since you're here, we might as well play a game of volleyball." Nanase gestured lazily over to the net set up a few yards away. "We have got enough people to play, after all. Why don't we settle our differences on the court?"

Zero caved almost instantly.

Sometimes, I believed he was far too competitive for his own good.

Ichii, on the other hand, couldn't have looked more disapproving. "No." He said, his voice holding firm authority. And then, of course, Zero reverted to his favourite tactic and set his rather impressive puppy-dog eyes on the older boy. After a few seconds where Ichii simply refused to meet the deadly gaze, he glanced over at me to ask my opinion, to which I shrugged non-committally. Sighing wearily, Ichii finally agreed, but only after naming himself the referee. "Alright, let's get this over with."

Zero gently rapped me on the head. "Looks like we're a team, Shrimp. Do your best out there, kay?" I smiled and nodded enthusiastically. We spared a small moment to high five each other, before jogging to our designated positions. "Knock 'em dead, Hikari!" I raised my hand in acknowledgement, flashing him a simple thumbs up in reply.

Zero served first. Nanase and Yakumo cleanly maintained possession of the ball, until with the second hit, Nanase was in the perfect position to execute a spike, which he did without hesitation.

 _I won't lose!_

Jumping up high, I made to intercept. Though, seeing as though sports wasn't really my forte, I failed spectacularly and the ball hit me straight in the face, knocking me flat on my back. The ball, on the other hand, sailed straight upwards, high enough for Zero to return the blow, so I was confused when he neatly caught it and crouched down at my side, already easing me up into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." Nanase was saying, directly over Zero's anxious questions regarding any injuries I may have acquired.

"You idiot! You've damaged my Hikari's precious face!"

Zero's head snapped up so fast, I couldn't help but wonder how he managed to avoid getting whiplash. "She is not your Hikari, jerk! Just leave her alone, I can take care of her just fine on my own, understand?"

Nanase and Yakumo, however, completely disregarded the boy's orders. The band aid Nanase offered me was instantly commandeered by Yakumo, who's hands lingered slightly as he carefully used it to cover the small cut on my cheek. Thankfully the low growl that rose in Zero's throat was enough to force the over-zealous boy to back off somewhat. Yakumo's questionable compliments didn't really go down too well with him either.

After nearly losing my voice assuring my companions that I was feeling better, it took an extra minute or so of convincing for them to be fully satisfied that I was actually capable of continuing.

I happened to notice that there was a rather worrying glint in Zero's eye as he prepared himself to serve once more.

The ball hurtled towards the net and was clearly infused with an alarming amount of magic, though it was intercepted by Zura, who rather stupidly flew right into it's path citing the fact that the use of magic was strictly prohibited. I managed to shield myself fairly well from the small explosion that ensued. As expected, this action led to an all-out brawl between the two of them, one that I was unfortunately caught in the middle of.

After failing thrice to escape the battle zone due to having to dodge wayward fireballs, Ichii succeeded in performing an excellent flying tackle which allowed us to fall clear of the danger and prevent me from being decimated by an on-coming attack.

"Jeez, Zero! Calm down, you're going to kill somebody!" He yelled, knee pressing firmly into the small of my back as he angled his body to cover my own.

"Thanks for the save, Ichii. That was pretty close, huh?" I didn't protest as he tucked even closer, in order, I suppose, to shield my body better. I had felt him flinch at the previous explosion and was aware he was just concerned for my safety. "Ichii, let me handle this. I'm sure I can get Zero to see sense!" I had already wriggled out before the boy had fully processed my words, and continued towards my blue-haired companion, ignoring Ichii's pleas for me to flee.

"Zero, listen! Please, just calm down. You don't need to fight, it's just a stupid game!"

I was far too late. Zero had already unleashed his Magic Cannon, which collided with Nanase's attack and resulted in an explosion of such a great magnitude, it lifted me clean off my feet. I landed in the shallow water with a harsh splash, completely winded and wishing I'd seen the sense to stay by Ichii. "Ow... You went a little too far this time..."

Zero certainly didn't miss my wince as I dragged myself back onto the beach. "It's not my fault... Nanase started it..." He mumbled. "Blame him."

"Oh, my precious Hikari! I was so worried about you. You're not hurt, right? That Zero can be way too hot-headed sometimes." I emitted a small shriek as Yakumo promptly hugged me, and I barely managed to release myself.

"Kyah, Yakumo! Okay, stop. Back off a little. You really need to stop hugging me all the time! I don't like being constantly grabbed, alright? Respect my personal boundaries." All my assertiveness was rewarded with was him cooing a gentle; _you're so adorable,_ which wasn't exactly what had been my intention. Ichii, ever the gentleman, pulled me up to my feet and lightly brushed away the stray sand clinging to my clothes. He offered me a towel, though I politely declined. "Huh? That's weird..." Upon further inspection, I was almost certain that our group was missing a certain blue-haired someone. "Ichii, where's Zero? I can't see him anywhere."

"I'm actually not really sure. Knowing him, I have a feeling he stormed away when you got hit." I accepted the bottle Ichii passed to me and gratefully sipped the cool liquid. "You should leave him be for a while. He's probably feeling pretty guilty about what happened; he never intended for you to get hurt, after all. In any case, he'll just be sulking and that's not really a sight you need to see."

* * *

Gingerly picking my way across, I silently prayed that my balance be assured. The sea swirled beneath me, lapping against the rocks, and with my limited abilities in the water, I was fairly certain that any tumble could be potentially deadly for me. _If Ichii saw me right now, he would scold me so badly._ Though, spotting the familiar blue locks just ahead helped me to clear my mind from distractions.

"Zero, here. I hope you like chocolate!" Smiling, I extended the designated cone towards him. I didn't expect him to refuse. "I thought you liked this flavour? Don't you want it?"

"I don't."

Frowning slightly, I spared a moment to lick at my own vanilla ice cream. "What's wrong, Zero? If you're feeling guilty about me getting caught up in that explosion back there, then you should know that I'm alright. I didn't get hurt, so it's okay. You can stop sulking now. "

"I- I'm not sulking!" He exclaimed, finally turning to face me, his cheeks noticeably flushed a pleasant pink.

"Oh yes, it really looks that way to me."

I could just about see Zero's eye twitch. "What are you doing here, anyway? Are you going to be fine away from that guy?"

 _"_ Hm? You don't mean Yakumo, do you? It's really not exactly like I asked to be brought here, you know. I'd much rather come to the beach of my own accord, with you guys. I'm sure that would be a whole lot more fun, don't you agree?" Taking a small bite of my ice-cream, I busied myself by mulling over his words. Very soon, the pieces clicked together. "Huh? Wait... Don't tell me... That's what you're angry about?"

"N-No."

Not even the pleasant creamy taste dancing across my tongue, could drag my attention away from the dark trail snaking down my arm, which was cold enough to make me shiver. "Come on, Zero. Take it, quickly, it's melting!"

If possible, his blush deepened to a brilliant scarlet. He expertly covered it up by snatching the cone from my hand and chomping down, dismissing my complaints as I quickly realised he'd grabbed the wrong one. "Quit being so stingy." He snapped, keeping his eyes on the floor. _That's not it at all... It's just... I licked that one..._ "I don't like it," Zero said, suddenly, breaking the awkward silence that had descended upon us. "When I see you being friendly with other guys... I'm not really sure why, but it pisses me off!"

 _No way..._ I was far too caught up in my thoughts to notice all of the chocolate falling down onto my leg. _That means... Zero was..._

"Hey... Your ice-cream-"

"Huh? No way! Uwah... I gotta wash it off! Um... This is not good... I need to- Whoa!" And, my magnificent Klutz abilities struck once more, as I tripped and fell forward, straight on to Zero. "Uwaaah, I'm so sorry... Damn, I'm really..." I hadn't ever seen Zero look so surprised. "...Such a..." He was so close, I could feel his warm breath on my face. "... Klutz..."

Blinking exactly three times, Zero carefully began reaching forward and I flinched slightly as his fingers lightly graced my skin.

 _What's... What's he doing?_ My eyes fluttered closed and I gulped, rather involuntarily, feeling a lump rise in my throat. _Is he... going to..._ Red, hot, a massive blush flushed brightly at my cheeks. My heart was hammering at a thousand miles an hour and Zero still hadn't dared to remove the fingers resting on my cheek. Slowly, I could feel him peel something off my face and I allowed myself to release the breath I was holding.

Easing me up into a sitting position, Zero's eyes remained downwards. He was holding up my band aid. "Ichii... Always says it's best to leave small cuts to breathe... And, it's not really deep enough to do any damage... So, you don't need anything from... that guy..."

 _He was jealous then, huh? Stupid Zero, it doesn't do you any good when you bottle things up like this. It just makes you more annoyed, and I do hate to see you feeling down._

Zero seemed to be regaining more control over himself as the seconds passed. Upon hearing Ichii calling for us, he carefully helped me to my feet and hovered with an almost hawk-like manner as I manoeuvred my way towards the brunette, focusing intensely on his self-proclaimed duty of my keeper. While being treated as if I were some incredible fragile being was slightly irritating, the fact that Zero was concerned for my safety and actively preventing me from tripping and injuring myself lightened my heart somewhat.

Another person that was taking his self-appointed older brother duties way to seriously was Ichii, who lightly placed a towel around my shoulders without even bothering to assert whether I actually needed it. After negotiating the right to ditch it only if I wore his jumper, which was admittedly a good couple of sizes to big, I sunk into gratefully into the warm, all the while marvelling at how different Zero's attitude had become.

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter is very late and I apologise greatly for it. There haven't really been any solid reasons for it other than my procrastination, which you should know has been a problem for a while.**

 **LoveInuyasha22: Finally, I have achieved my mission! Of course, I couldn't leave the two of them fighting for too long, now could I? It does break my heart to see them at odds with each other.**

 **Breebreebabygirl: It's perfectly fine, I'm just glad you liked the chapter. This one is a little late, but I hope you find it good, nonetheless.**

 **AJPJweallluvJJ: That certain boy doesn't just happen to be the one that lost his temper in this chapter, does it? I'm glad you thought that Ayumi's reaction was believable, since I was a little worried about that. It's always good to hear from you!**

 **Guest: Thank you, I greatly appreciate your review and hope you continue to find the story to your liking.**


	18. He Is Me And I Am Him? Part 2

Slowly, I woke.

It was, by standards, supposed to be a normal, hopefully uneventful, day. I began it, as always, by insistently keeping my eyes closed in a useless attempt to drift off back to the pleasant dreamland which I had been abruptly wrenched from. Outside, I heard the distant birdsong and whistling of the wind that rattled tightly latched windows and snaked through the trees, allowing their branches to sway in an improvised waltz. After a few minutes of spectacular failure, I abandoned the hopeless endeavour and allowed my blue orbs to flutter open and trail the patterns curling across the ceiling. While I recognised that they were different from the ones in my own room, they seemed familiar and instantly seemed to set me at ease.

Mellow golden rays spilled out across the room, illuminating everything it graced with a heavenly glow; the sheets were soft against my skin and the mattress raised up as if enveloping my body in a big, gentle hug. Tilting my head to the side, I realised I could distinctly hear a pleasant tune emanating from what I supposed was the kitchen. My lips curved up in a wide smile as I tiled my head, listening intently.

Warm, low and incredibly relaxing, that voice couldn't have belonged to any but him. It surprised me for a fleeting moment, since I hadn't before realised that Ichii enjoyed to him as he cooked, but after taking more time to ponder the thought, it was really something I almost expected him to do. The bitter scent of coffee mingled with the saltiness of eggs and bubbling fat on sizzling rashes of bacon was more enough to entice me out of bed. As I padded across the plush carpet, savouring how my feet sunk into the soft material, I briefly wondered whether Ichii would allow me to steal any food after I thanked him for letting me crash over here last night and possible commandeer his bed in the process.

Spotting a mirror, I diverted my course in order for me to tie my hair up into a messy ponytail. Only I stopped dead as I caught sight of my reflection. After a few seconds of speechless disbelief, I managed to snap out of my reverie and charged through the door, screaming Ichii's name. The boy in question just barely succeeded in saving himself from pouring coffee into his lap. Saying that it would've been hot would be a monumental understatement; by the wisps of steam steadily rising from the surface of the liquid, I could certainly tell it would be enough to cause burns on his delicate skin.

Shooting me with a bewildered glance, Ichii raced to grab a wad of tissues and clean up his mess, otherwise ignoring me for the moment, which only aided to build my rising panic.

"Ichii!" I exclaimed, my fists clenching into tight balls at my side. "You've gotta help me- something happened, I don't know what's going on. But- but- I'm- I'm Hikari!"

That bombshell caused Ichii to knock over his mug, spilling what little of the beverage he had manage to salvage. Looking a little unnerved, Ichii chuckled lightly, but by the way it caught in his throat, it was relatively easy to see how forced that action was. "Yeah, that's a good one, you almost had me for a minute there." He swabbed at the trailing liquid. "It's too early for you to be playing tricks on me. Try being serious for once, Zero, I mean, the least you can do is wait until after breakfast. Which, by the way, is getting cold."

"I'm not kidding, Ichii!" He believed me now; I could see it in his eyes. Because Zero's voice never went that high. And Zero's voice usually held a confident and somewhat exuberant edge to it. Right now, it was scared, shaking and on the verge of breaking. "I'm really Hikari! I woke up just now- and- and this happened! I don't understand. How do I change back? What's going to-" At that point, I shrieked. Sure, I was in Zero's body, but my brain still hadn't quite caught up with that fact. Noticing that I was topless was one surprise too many. _"Kyah!_ Zero- what is _wrong_ with you!? Why do you never put on a shirt?"

"Man, you're loud."

Seeing Zero casually stroll in just about topped the level of weird I could tolerate. Because, of course, seeing as though I was in his body, Zero was now taking residence in mine. Lazily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, it took Zero an impressive total of five seconds to fully comprehend that he was staring straight at himself. And a triple take to fully confirm that he wasn't insane, during which he managed to catch a glimpse of his reflection, causing his expression to twist into one of absolute horror, which, at any other place or time, would've been hilarious.

"It is way too early for this crap." Zero declared, wheeling around. Instead of smoothly exiting, though, he managed to walk straight in to the wall and groaned loudly.

Ichii merely face-palmed.

* * *

The three occupants of the room where in various degrees of awkwardness. Zero; who was silently picking at the hem of his shorts. Me, cheeks flushed, eyes determinedly remaining on my lap, fingers absent-mindedly twirling a few locks of hair. Ichii, now bare-chested after he allowed me to borrow his shirt, was furiously tapping away on his laptop, never sparing the two of us a single glance. After several tense minutes, Ichii released an aggravated sigh and messily combed his fingers through his hair. In response to our hopeful expressions, he merely shook his head, looking exasperated. "Why is this so impossible? I'm not getting anything of use."

Another moment of frantic typing, before he slammed the lid down with enough force to make me jump. "This is useless; I'm going to need more time to figure out some way to reverse this. You guys aren't going to like it, but you don't really have a choice. Until I can find a way to change you back, I guess you two are going to have to live your lives as each other."

We blinked exactly three times, then simultaneously let out a shrill scream of horror.

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING MEEEEEEEE!"

* * *

After performing a 007 inspired leap out of the window- in which Ichii caught me before I could hit the ground, because apparently being in Zero's body didn't automatically mean I inherited his inhuman talent for incredibly nimble landings- we chilled on the doorstep for a couple of minutes, waiting patiently until Ichii deemed it to be safe to knock. Neither of us were especially keen on leaving Zero alone with my mother for too long, the countless possibilities for it to go wrong seemed to have frightened us both in to a tense silence complete with grim, tight-lipped expressions that were forcefully banished the instant the door was flung open.

Zero was looking flustered in my body, with black locks curling enticingly around the edge of his face, blue eyes flashing in alarm. He took a deep breath to compose himself and forced a bright smile to creep up his lips. "Hey you two, you're a little late today, huh?" He allowed himself a moment of small, internal celebration after Ichii discretely gave the interaction a satisfied nod. "Zero, did you oversleep again? I really don't know how Ichii can put up with you."

"That's rude." Summoning my inner-Zero, I grinned and sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck, hoping with every ounce of my being that it looked as Zero-like as possible. "Well, actually... yeah. Guess you have a point there. Seriously, I have no idea either." I paused to take a dramatic sideways glance at the brunette and whispered behind my hand. "It's probably because I bribe him with coffee and biscuits. Don't tell, kay?" I had to admit, Zero's laugh sounded genuine and close to the pitch which I assume I usually speak in. He smirked and traded a small fist-bump with me as we filed into the kitchen.

Both myself and Zero shied away from most of the talk, only mustering up the courage to reply when we were directly addressed. Though, not long after Zero had finished his breakfast, I noticed him stealing glances in my direction in an awkward attempt to attract my attention. Taking this opportunity, I engaged him in conversation, blundering on the first topic I came to and covertly guiding him up the stairs, following after him, mouth running like a motor, with him chipping in his own input when he was able to.

Taking refuge in my room, I offered to help Zero with his hair. We had both agreed that it would be strange if 'Hikari _'_ suddenly changed her appearance. Zero shifted a chair close up to my mirror and sat there, hunched over, gazing at his reflection with a lost, almost helpless expression.

"What's wrong?" I asked, softly, as I leaned over the back and started to comb through his raven locks.

"Nah... It's nothing, really..." He fleetingly summoned a weak smile to appear at the edges of his lips and allowed his eyes to drift up, meeting mine in the mirror.

"I just really don't want to mess up." He admitted, in hushed tones and flinched slightly as I carefully began untangling a knot.

Silence prevailed for a moment. Then, with a little hesitation, I spoke. "Mess up?"

"Yeah." He sighed. He attempted to mess with his hair. With it being longer than he was used to, he froze and slowly lowered his hand. "I mean, it's going to be difficult pretending to be you. You have so many little habits and characteristics that make you, well, you. And... I guess I just don't want anyone to figure out something is wrong-"

"Zero-"

"Not because it'll be awkward to explain since I can just make up some lie, right?" He continued, apparently not even hearing my interruption. "When I really try hard, I can be a pretty quick thinker sometimes, can't I? The problem is, the thing I'm really worried about, is that I don't want to be the cause of... well, dragging anyone else into this examination; I just don't want to put anyone else in danger. You know what I mean?"

I knew what he meant. I knew _exactly_ what he meant. But, I didn't really know how to put it all into words. So, instead, I just wrapped my arms somewhere around his shoulders and squeezed lightly in what I hoped was a comforting hug. He gently patted my arm and I buried my face into his neck and for a moment, it was just us. Hikari and Zero. Zero and Hikari. We were ourselves, and yet, entirely different people. He ceased movement, resting his hand around my wrist and leaning back into my embrace, eyes closed, looking relaxed.

"It'll be alright," I breathed.

"Really?"

"Really." I confirmed. "Sure, it's going to be hard, life is like that. We'll just figure everything out along the way. But, as long as we're together, we'll be fine. It's always been that way, hasn't it? Right now, me and you, we can get through this."

Nodding determinedly, Zero tilted his head up, focusing on me with a new fire kindling in his eyes. "Let's do our best, then."

He gently pinched my cheek as I grinned. "That sounds more like the Zero I know."

After carefully placing the ribbons in the correct positions, I pulled my locket over Zero's head, gripping it tightly in my hand for a moment. Seemingly without thinking, he caught it with his own, and gave a reassuring squeeze. "Hey, no frowning, you're supposed to be the cheerful one. Just relax, I'll keep it safe."

"Promise?"

"I promise on my life, Hikari."

We lapsed into a comfortable silence.

"You know, I've just realised something. You're actually really, really short. Like, I'm not kidding, I have to crane my head up to get a good look at everyone."

"Hey-" I protested, though I had to cave at the teasing twinkle dancing in his eyes. "I'm not _that_ small."

"You are!" Zero insisted, a grin curving at his lips. "Like, how on Earth do you reach stuff all by yourself? Yet, you just disappear into the kitchen and return with crap I know full well had been on _at least_ the third shelf. You must posses some secret magical power, there's no other explanation for that witchcraft. I mean, come on, you're tiny!"

"Watch it! I am _proportional!_ "

* * *

"Hey, Hikari~"

"Good morning!"

"Yo."

Both myself and Zero froze, took a sideways glance at each other and ducked behind the lockers while Ichii casually covered our exit. Speaking at the exact same time didn't seem to do anything but stress out out further.

"Cut out the girl talk-"

"Don't be so rude!"

"You're in _my_ body, don't ruin my reputation-"

"If you say anything mean to my friends, Zero, I _swear-_ "

"Guys, calm down." Ichii, ever the diplomat, swiftly intervened before it morphed into a full-blow argument, his voice holding it's usual placating tone. "You made a mistake, that's fine. Just go back out there and fix it. It'll seem more suspicious if you run and hide, rather than just simply correcting yourself. I really would've thought you'd have figured that out by now."

"Uh- Hikari?" Ayumi sounded tentative as she edged closer and after a little prompting, Zero peeked around at her. "Have you finished yet? … Because we really have to leave. We've got swim class, remember? So we've gotta go change. There'll be trouble if we're late again."

 _Change?_ Zero looked just as stunned as I felt. Swivelling around to face Ichii, he flashed the boy a pleading expression- though he merely shrugged helplessly- as Kei seized his upper arm and insistently began pulling him along after her. "Guess we better go, too." Ichii said, sighing upon realising that he would have to drag me all the way over to our designated room. Even then, he was forced to inconspicuously guide me to the corner, where I settled down and attempted to do my best to remain calm.

Though, it appeared that even Ichii's meticulous defences could be breached. As he was removing his shirt, I was approached by, what I assumed, was a couple of Zero's male friends. Male friends of Zero _who were half naked._ I caught a fleeting glimpse of their bare chests before I'd stubbornly averted my eyes to my knees, something which they hadn't failed to notice. I hoped with every fibre of my being that they hadn't noticed me blushing. That would only earn Zero a great deal of awkward questions that he most certainly wouldn't thank me for.

"Hey, you okay, Zero? You're just sitting here. Aren't you going to change?"

Ichii, evidently alarmed, slammed his head against one of the lockers as he tried to wrestle himself out of his shirt. "Eh-? Y-Yeah. I'm fine. Great. Just perfect. Totally feeling awesome right now. Yeah, so don't, um, worry. I'm all good. There is no problem here what-so-ever. Ehehe..." Oh god. I was stammering. And badly, too. There was no way they weren't going to press this issue. By the expression of their faces, I could see the suspicion settling in.

"Are you sure? You're acting a little strange. Do you have a temperature?"

I reeled away like his hand would bite me. "Kyah- don't touch me!" Then, I caught sight of them all. The ones standing _in nothing but boxers._ Ichii, finally managing to free himself, wasn't successful at catching me before I bolted straight out of the room and ran like my ass was on fire.

* * *

Tucking my knees closer to my chest, I stared forlornly down at the water shimmering below me. Usually, I loved to swim. I wasn't all too good, but I still enjoyed it a great deal. Right now, I was more wary of it than anything else present. Sure, I lacked aquatic grace, but, as expected, Zero was like a dolphin. Even now, swimming in my body, he was holding back. Purposely forcing himself to make his strokes messy, uneven, just to _try_ to match up to my usual, poor standards. I, on the other hand, wasn't even prepared to risk it. Zero's reputation seemed to be precious to him. He seemed to struggle with the more academic side of education. I wasn't going to destroy the only activity he held the utmost pride for.

Too caught up in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed Ichii casually settling himself beside me, allowing his feet to dip into the water. Every inch of his skin glistened and the trails of liquid pooling underneath him were more than enough to clue me in to the fact that he had just exited the pool. I guess I forgot to mention, Ichii also happened to be an excelled swimmer. All the more reason for me to feel the tiniest bit jealous, watching the two of them have fun while I was stuck here, regardless of the fact that I was doing it of my own accord.

"You okay now? I managed to explain everything to the others. Just spouted some stuff about you feeling a little out of it today, like maybe you were coming down with the flu. They bought it, though, so you can relax about that."

I sighed with relief. That was one less problem to deal with. "Thanks, Ichii. You're a life saver."

He gently chipped me under the chin, eyes warm and alive. "Head up. You'll get through this." I smiled gratefully. This kind of support was exactly what I could depend on him for. I hoped that one day, I'd be able to pay him back for all he'd done for me. The same went for Zero. I couldn't even begin to count the number of times he'd picked me up after I'd fallen. He was a crutch, someone to physically rely on, who would always be right by my side, providing that helping hand to push me forward.

A distinct paddling in the water had our attention diverting to Zero, standing on tip-toes to lean his head in folded arms on the side of the pool.

"Yo." He greeted, looking a lot more revived than when I had first seen him. I assumed he'd had some kind of encounter in the locker room and wisely decided to keep a wide berth until he had calmed. "Come swim." His tone was light, but firm. I knew straight away that he was ordering me. Evidently, it seemed that even he, the most oblivious boy on the entire planet, had noticed my loneliness and had decided to take it upon himself to fix it. It was just like him. He had a childish innocence that was just adorable. After all, if swimming made him happy, then, in his mind, it should help make me happy, too.

"What if I mess up?"

"It's alright. We'll be together."

I hesitated no further. Zero, forgetting for a fleeting moment, that he was supposed to be Hikari, carefully helped me enter the pool. He didn't release my hand and instead towed me away from the edge, his legs kicking out somewhere beneath me, distorted in the vast expanse stretching out. I caught sight of Ichii, who lazily lifted his hand in a small wave, and grinned back, striking out in a couple of clumsy strokes intended to aid him. One look at his expression was enough for me to stop. He allowed me to use my legs, though, and we swam around for a little while, teasing and messing about, lightly splashing each other and generally just having fun.

At one point though, everything went somewhat downhill. Zero let go and promptly veered away to avoid a race. I hadn't been paying attention and remained in their path. We collided and like a ton of bricks, I sank straight down. That was exactly when I panicked. Going from joking with Zero to hitting the bottom of the pool in the space of a few seconds was quite a big whiplash of events. So, I hoped I would be excused for the mass amount of flailing that proceeded.

A fair amount of breath had been knocked straight out of my lungs, leaving me less buoyant than usual, so I didn't instantly rise back up. And even for Zero, there were sections of the pool he couldn't stand up in. Unfortunately, this just happened to be one of them. Thankfully, after thrashing uselessly around for no more than twenty seconds, Zero had composed himself enough to dive down and seize me around the middle, forcefully yanking me back up so my head broke the surface.

The stares were piercing. Whispers filled the air. Zero didn't seem bothered, concern was the only emotion his face displayed. "Cramp." I gasped, picking the first pitiful excuse I could stumble on. "I have cramp in my leg."

Zero blinked exactly three times before he understood. "Right. I'll help you, so let's go sit on the side until it wears off."

Ichii, displaying the same temporary forgetfulness, lifted me out of the pool exactly as he would if I were in my own body. After wrapping a towel around my shoulders, he seemed to have snapped back and realised his mistake. So he gently smacked me upside the head. "Idiot. You had me worried for a second there." He took a moment to ruffle Zero's hair. "Thanks for helping him, Hikari."

"Any time."

* * *

 _No, come back, that's the boy's! Remember, you can't go into the ladies toilets. Don't sit with your legs apart, you're wearing a skirt, Zero. Don't have your thighs together, it looks weird. Hey, slow down, your lunch will still be there in a couple of minutes, you don't need to wolf it down. Quit speaking so quietly, haven't you seen how loud I am? Be careful, I don't talk much._

By the end of the day, we were both utterly exhausted. "Haven't you figured out a way to reverse this, Ichii? I don't think I can take much more." I would've had to agree with Zero. I couldn't tolerate much more either. If this charade went of for much longer, I was certain we would both break under the pressure.

"Well, according to what I looked up, it seems to be a situation of body switching... In order for you to remove this magic yourselves, it says you two have to get really close, otherwise it won't work..." The boy trailed off as both me and Zero crouched down, merely centimetres from each other and engaged in a heated staring contest. After a few minutes of tense silence, we looked up at him, eyes somewhat stinging, more confused than ever.

"Nothing happened."

"We're still in the wrong bodies."

"Hehe, you seem to be having quite the problem there." With a little flourish, Nanase neatly landed on the brick wall and perched there with cat-like ease. I thought it was amusing how, even in swapped bodies, Zero still lurched forward to shield me, while Ichii stood his ground just before Zero, glaring hard at the intruder.

"Nanase?" My next intake of breath was sharp, punctuated by a surprised, fluttery gasp. "Don't tell me you're the one that did this?"

Evidently, by his insufferable grin, I'd hit right on the mark. "That's right. You didn't realise it before? I used these charms for my amulet magic. It worked well, didn't it?" With a painful jolt, my heart plummeted right to the floor. He displayed a small plaster, identical to the one given to me at the beach. Identical to the one Zero removed, in a small act of jealousy. "While I'm at it, I'll tell you something good~ You see, that magic... Within ten minutes, that magic won't be able to be removed and you'll be stuck like that forever!"

"That's it!" Zero yelled, looking a lot more than the marginally pissed off he had been just moments earlier. "Stop screwing around. Change us back right now!"

"Gladly." Zero looked momentarily stunned. I, on the other hand, knew I shouldn't get my hopes up. I'd had enough experience to realise the next sentence would have them crashing and burning. "I'll turn you both back, but only in exchange for the Crystal Pearl. And, there's one more condition. Zero, I want you to sincerely apologise to me."

"Like hell I'll say that!"

"I wonder how long you'll keep up that bluff? You've only got 8 minutes remaining." Zero's fists were at his sides. He looked so conflicted, it was painful to watch. I was panicking. Pacing wildly, my mouth running like a motor, I barely paused for breath. I couldn't even think straight. "Come on, Zero. It's easy. I don't see why you have to be so stubborn. Why don't you save yourself all this trouble and just give up?"

"No way. I'm never going to say anything like I give up! If it means I have to acknowledge defeat, then I'll just stay this way for the rest of my life! I'll fight- I'm not a coward. I'm going to protect those who I care for, you can count on that!"

 _What do I do? What_ can _I do? At this rate, we'll have to stay like this forever! I want to be myself again, so, so badly. But that means that I won't be with Zero and Ichii once we're switched back and I don't want that to happen either. So... what other option is there? How am I supposed to- What should I do?_

"I understand." Zero's voice had my head snapping up, almost in alarm. "Hikari, don't be afraid, alright? Even if you go with him, we're going to get you right back. I promised, didn't I? And I'm not prepared to break it just yet. So just believe in us and wait. Or, alternatively, break out yourself because I know you're that badass now." After winking softly, his attention shifted to Nanase. "Now, you better listen right up, you hear? Because it's taking a lot out of me and I'm only ever going to say this once. And only _once._ Right? So listen carefully. That means look me directly in the eye, idiot... Good, so here we go." Hands on hips, standing up straight, Zero glowered, sending piercing daggers through his gaze alone. "I give up! I lose! And I'm sorry. So, there. I said it. Are you happy now?" A little sigh and then he was back, shoulders slumped, looking just as drained as ever. "How's that?"

"Uwah... That was one seriously pissed off apology there. But, then again, I guess you did do it, so that's fine, I'll accept. Grudgingly." He caught Zero by the arm and dragged him forward a couple of paces. "Now the Crystal Pearl is ours." At Zero's annoyed expression, Nanase carefully pulled out another one of his magical amulets. "Guess I'll change you back now. Here we go; Magical Release!"

"All right, we're back to our normal-"

We froze in horror. "WE'RE NOT BACK!" Accusing gazes shifted to Nanase, who shrank back, looking confused. "WHY?"

"Huh? That's odd... Did I get the charms mixed up?" He rifled around in his pocket for a moment, before pulling out a different one. "Let me try again, one more time. Magical Release!" Silence. Dead, complete silence. I glanced towards Zero, he glanced towards me. Silence. Just one big, long glance. Glares in place, our eyes turned towards Nanase, who was looking more befuddled as he inspected his little amulets. "Ehehe... I guess I don't know how to turn you back..."

Horrified, myself and Zero almost managed to bash heads. Both of us were frantically pacing, blind panic flaring in our eyes. Heads swivelled to Ichii, who appeared just as helpless as us. Then to Nanase, still looking sheepish. Raking my hands through my hair, I choked out another painful breath. My throat felt constricted, like someone was crushing my windpipe. I was furious. With this situation, with Nanase and with myself. Because I was on the verge of crying, even when I knew full well that tears weren't going to do a damn thing to help.

"Hikari, come over here! Hurry!" Zero's hand was outstretched towards me. I didn't hesitate to take it. If he sounded so commanding, then he must have thought of a plan. With so little time left, I wasn't about to question him. Hands on my shoulders, Zero drew me into a tight hug. "Think about me. I'll be thinking about you." With a stifled gasp of realisation, I squeezed him back, just as hard. "Just think about me. That's it. I'll be doing the same for you."

 _Zero. Immature, selfish, egotistic, Zero. Protective, caring, jealous, Zero. The boy that makes Ichii coffees in the mornings and steals some of my breakfast. The boy that has a never-ending stomach. The one who pretends to be disinterested, but really sneaks off to go watch the lizards with such a childish look of glee on his face, it was difficult not to find endearing. The same Zero that gets pissed off when someone insults me. The same Zero that realises I feel uncomfortable with Yakumo and attempts to intervene. The same one that, in a rare moment of responsibility, prevented the usually level-headed Ichii from vaulting out of a window to rescue me, because he knew that if the boy managed to injure himself, I would only blame myself._

 _Zero, Zero, Zero._

 _The smart one, who figured everything out._

 _Who saved us once again._

 _All along, we've been blind, too caught up in ourselves to really listen to those words. If we had, then we would've realised the answer much sooner. Because, it's not our bodies that have to be close-_

 _It's our hearts._

* * *

The first thing I did was leap at him in a flying hug. Zero was laughing and he caught me tight, swinging the both of us around in a wide, sweeping arc as I buried my head into the crook of his neck.

In the small chaos that ensued when Yakumo arrived, berating Nanase and forcing his partner to apologise, Zero didn't once release his secure grip on my wrist. I suppose it was because he was worried I might get snatched away. Or that, evidently, he was still jealous of Yakumo. But for what ever motive, he was by my side, protecting me. The two of them left with promises for return which I didn't doubt they'd fulfil and Zero finally allowed himself to relax. "Hey... Thanks for all of that..."

"Y-Yeah..." He blushed a little and averted his eyes. Then, slowly smiled a secret, precious little smile. "I'm glad... As I thought... It's better for Hikari to be how she usually is."

His grin was disarming, enough to leave me frozen in the path. Zero, still flustered, ran on ahead with Ichii trailing after him. "Uh- wait. Don't leave without me!"

 _I also think it's better for Zero to be how he usually is. And I wouldn't change him for the world._

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long for me to complete. No excuse other than laziness and a lack of inspiration. There's so little source material for this one, that I was having a lot of trouble lengthening it. A big thank you to those of you who have read, reviewed, favourited or followed the story. I really do appreciate all your support! Also, I'm trying to develop my writing because I think it's much to description-based. I've tried to cut back on unnecessary information and leave some dialogue just on it's own. So, what do you think, is it working?**

 **LoveInuyasha22: Thank you. I hope you like this chapter just as much!**

 **James Birdsong: I'm glad you find it amusing. Hopefully, you'll continue to find the rest of the story to your liking.**


	19. A Love Potion?

The train swayed around a corner.

The force pushed me a little further into Ichii's side, though just by a small glance, I could tell he hadn't noticed. His eyes were content, half closed as his head drooped onto my shoulder. His grip loosened, though I managed to grab the hardback novel before it had completely slipped from his hand. _I sure am glad we managed to grab seats this time._ Smiling softly, I nudged him with my elbow. When I received no response, I repeated the action, only slightly firmer.

"Ichii?"

He mumbled incoherently and shifted into a more comfortable position. I gave him a third little nudge. "Wake up, sleepyhead." Ichii blinked exactly three times, before he shook his hair back, though the grateful smile I was rewarded with was more than enough to compensate for ruining the adorable sight. "Welcome back to the land of the living."

His eyes, looking more than a little sleepy, melted in the golden rays spilling through the window, circling in a warm eclipse of the most pleasant hues, as his lips curved in a smile lethal enough to stop a girl's heart. "Hm...?Was I resting on you?" At my nod, Ichii carefully straightened himself back up, movements still slower than usual, showing the barest hint of sluggishness. "Sorry. Trains always seem to make me tired. It doesn't help that I get motion sickness when I sleep." He yawned and swiped absently at the stray droplets persistently clinging to his dark lashes like glittering diamonds.

"Are we almost there?"

"No." I said, cheerfully, craning my neck to catch another glimpse of a lake as we hurtled past. The sparkling azure water was so appealing, I just wanted to dive right in. "We've still got a while to go."

He hummed in response, lightly setting the novel back on his lap, thumbing through until he flipped to the correct page. I eagerly shifted closer, settling heavily against him to read over his shoulder. Ichii didn't complain. After all, we had been sharing the book for the entire journey.

Chuckling softly, the boy instead merely pinched my cheek between his thumb and forefinger, an endearingly teasing glint held in his eyes as I squirmed in an attempt to release myself. "You're looking pretty comfortable there." In reply, I just smirked as wickedly as I could and flopped against him, a complete deadweight. "Oh, here we go. You know, two can play at that game."

"You're way too mature." I challenged, and poked my tongue out at him. Ichii raised an eyebrow in a perfect arch and simply raised his arm, causing me to sprawl ungracefully across his lap.

"Hey!"

The movement was so sudden that the pressure of his finger against my lips shocked me into complete silence. "Shhh," My mock glare dissipated just as quickly as it had appeared. "You don't want to wake him, do you?"

My gaze shifted towards Zero, who was also exactly how he had been for most of the journey. Slumped across the entire seat, his head nestled on his folded arms as he used the arm rest for a pillow. Eyes closed, lashes dark against his pale skin and lips splayed in a small, peaceful smile, he looked positively angelic. I had to bite my lip to stifle the huge smile that threatened to spread across my face.

* * *

I still hadn't managed to fully comprehend how beautiful the villa was. It seemed as though I would be perpetually trapped in this awestruck state. Huge, pristine and exquisitely furnished, I couldn't help but think that it looked fit to house royalty.

Unfortunately, everyone else had different priorities. Take Zero for example; being nothing but a bottomless stomach, he had prompted the preparations for lunch. Initially, it had been just myself, Rokka and San cooking, but with the latter two being all but useless and myself struggling to organise things even with my competence in the kitchen, I was more than a little grateful when Forte decided to wade in and lend a welcomed hand.

"Hikari," I swivelled around mid-way through retrieving an, admittedly fairly heavy, bag of rice from the shelf. "Can you come and peel the rest of these? I'll get the rice." Evidently, Forte had noticed just how much I was struggling, even after raising myself up on tip-toes. I suppose the intelligent solution would've been to take the initiative and drag a stool over, instead of showing a total lack of grace as I stubbornly forced myself to stretch further than humanely possible.

After easily dodging San as she danced around with the long peel Forte had supplied her with, which served it's purpose of distracting the girl from the excessively pointy knives she could've otherwise have injured herself on, I made light work of peeling the remaining apples and fleetingly traded a secret smile with Ichii as he passed, Rokka obediently following closely behind as he gently ordered her to stay away from the fire.

"Do you know where the salt is?"

"Hmm... Let me see..." Forte was busy scouring the shelves, so I took to detecting around in the more obvious places. Fairly quickly, I caught sight of a little glass bottle on the counter. "Huh? I wonder if this is it..." It proved to be a little more difficult than I had anticipated to remove the lid, and due to the excessive amount of force I used to do so, the contents spilled directly into the simmering pot.

I froze in horror. _Okay... That definitely wasn't salt._ I gave the remaining contents an experimental sniff, hoping that I would be able to somehow deduce the liquid from it's scent. I failed. Spectacularly.

"I found the salt."

"Oh, you did?" I forced a bright smile onto my face and discretely nudged the bottle back on to the counter, pretending to watch intently as Forte worked.

 _Maybe it's alright?_ Browns furrowing, I gave the curry a dubious look. _Well... It doesn't seem to be any different. It hasn't blown up yet either, which is surely a good sign..._

 _I'm probably just being paranoid._

* * *

"HIKARI!"

I flinched. In my defence, the shout was unexpected and the violent crash that resonated after the door thrown open, practically with enough force to make it fly off its hinges, would have startled anyone. Expect for Ichii, who apparently was made of steel. The cause of this commotion was Rokka, who hurtled over with all the viscous energy of a tornado. "Why is this almost empty?"

She displayed the little glass bottle from earlier.

And by _displayed_ I mean she shoved right in my face. Luckily, she didn't damage anything. For example, my face. Or, more importantly, her precious nails. On second thought, my face should probably take priority.

 _Probably._

"Oh, that." I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck and offered her an awkward half-smile. Rokka looked absolutely furious. If we were in a cartoon, I was sure that, by now, steam would be shooting out from her ears. "Was it yours? I'm really sorry, I thought it was salt and accidentally poured it in the curry. Maybe I can buy you a replacement..."

But Rokka, the rude child, wasn't even listening to me any more. She had practically dived straight on to Ichii's back and slammed her hands over his mouth with much more force than was exactly necessary, preventing him from taking even a single bite. Which, I couldn't help but feel was marginally melodramatic. _It isn't as though I'd laced it with poison._ The remaining occupants, however, didn't seem to receive the same treatment. They were perfectly free to dig into the curry, which they had already done and were now completely frozen, staring directly at me with identical unreadable expressions. Which, of course, wasn't unsettling in the least.

"Oh... Did it really taste that bad?" I was beginning to doubt myself. _Maybe it was poison, after all._

"Hikari." I regarded Forte with a hint of wariness. His tone was... _strange_ as he approached me.

Holding my hands up in a weak surrender sign, I mustered up an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry, Forte. You were a really great help earlier and now what have I done to repay you? I ruined the food you worked so hard to make. I really am sorry. But, it wasn't intentional, I swear. If I had know then I never would've-"

I stopped dead. Forte was grasping my hands in his own, eyes shining with an alien emotion as he, much to my surprise, declared, "I love you!" Ichii's head snapped around to clock the conversation, his face twisted in a confused expression that, in any other situation, would've been hilarious. "Please go steady with me!"

"W-wh-what are you saying, Forte? You can't be serious-"

"No, I'm serious! I'm really... in love with you."

The word _speechless_ didn't really do my reaction justice. I gaped helplessly for a brief moment, and couldn't even fully comprehend what exactly his intentions were until he was so close I could feel his warm breath tickling my cheek. _He's going to kiss me!_ Despite knowing that fact, I completely panicked, and froze up. Which, of course, was _ever_ so helpful. Luckily, I didn't actually have to do anything to stop him, for Gou became my unexpected saviour, quickly appearing in my field of vision and easily ejecting him from my immediate surroundings.

I wasn't given even a brief respite as Gou had already twined our fingers together and was leaning far closer to my face than I would've liked, his gaze serious as he focused cool, unwavering eyes on my own. "Miss Hikari, choose me to court you."

I blinked exactly three times before his words fully registered in my brain, causing a wild blush to rise on my cheeks. I pulled my hands back and tucked them close to my chest as I retreated to a safe distance. "What's wrong with you two?"

"I love you, too!"

The unexpected glomp carried enough momentum to have me falling straight onto my knees. I could feel relieved that I at least hadn't scraped the skin off. Surprisingly, San's grip didn't even lessen for a moment. "San? Oh, you've _got_ to be _kidding_ _me!_ Not you, too." I shot a pleading look over my shoulder. "What's going on here, Ichii?"

He was busy inspecting the bottle Rokka had abandoned on the table. The girl in question had disappeared from sight, which wasn't incriminating in the least. "Th-this is... A love potion!?" Evidently, he was surprised, if the fact that he almost dropped the bottle entirely was anything to go by. Replacing it without incident, Ichii's lips were drawn in a tight, grim line. "It's the curry, Hikari. It must have been in the curry."

"In the curry?" I echoed as an overwhelming thought suddenly dawned on me. "Then that means-" I snapped my head around and our gazes instantly locked. That alone seemed to confirm my suspicions. Zero hadn't appeared to have moved even an inch, but his eyes hadn't left me, even for a moment.

 _He can't be...!_

"H-Hikari..." Zero edged his way towards me, cautious, like one would approach a frightened puppy. Head cocked slightly to the side, I couldn't help but feel how Zero-like his expression was, but, jarringly, how his movements didn't at all match. Awkward and disjointed, he lacked the effortless swagger that usually seemed to flow throughout his entire body. It was more than alarming. "Hikari, I can't believe I haven't realised it until now... But, you see, I've always... always... loved y-"

Hands clamped tightly over my ears, I squeezed my eyes shut, attempting to block out the whole world. "Kyah! No, Zero, don't say it!" _I... I can't take this!_ And I couldn't. I really couldn't. Who would be able to handle one of their best friends being unable to act of their own free will? It was awful, seeing him in this zombie-like state.

So, I did the only reasonable thing that occurred to me.

I ran.

Very quickly, San appeared at my side. She was grinning childishly, as though this mad chase was just a simple game. "I've go you now!"

When I stumbled back to avoid her reaching hand, I felt a familiar presence behind, easily steadying me with a gentle pressure on my shoulder. "No you don't!" In an instant, I was swept off my feet. Remaining silent, Ichii's only response was the slow upwards curve of his lips, which displayed the barest hint of a smile, and the slight tightening of the arm around my back, as I settled into his embrace. Closing my eyes, I allowed my head to rest comfortably against his chest, content with listening to the steady beat of his heart.

"Ichii?"

"I didn't eat the curry. So it's alright, the potion hasn't affected me. Just relax. I'll protect you."

I wasn't entirely certain how long he had been running for. I just knew that, for a brief moment, everything was okay. Because Ichii was here. Because he had promised to protect me. And I trusted him. Because if anyone could figure out a plan, it was him. So I waited. And listened to the rhythmic beating. And as I listened, I felt my muscles relax. My fists unfurled, toes uncurled and the tension that had gripped tightly slowly dissipated. Constant and calming, it was the perfect lullaby, one that I was sure I wasn't the only one grateful that it lured me into a much more serene state.

Eventually, we came to a slow halt and I allowed my eyes to flutter open, but only after a little bit of prompting, in the form of Ichii carefully nudging my cheek. The said boy was smiling the same warm, reassuring smile he always seemed to wear as he gently lowered me back down to the ground. "I think we're safe now." I merely nodded. I didn't trust myself to speak just yet. "Now, I know you're there, Rokka! Don't hide. Come on out! You know how to reverse this spell, right?"

"I won't tell you!" Despite the fact that she was out of sight, I could still hear the pout in her voice. "Let everyone harass Hikari for once!"

Ichii contemplated her words for a moment. I could see a hint of exasperation in his eyes. "Hikari. Come over here for a second." His voice was so gentle. Low, rich, it held so much sweetness, like he was inviting me to share some precious secret with him. It was the same one that had won me over in the first place. My step had regained most of it's usual skip, though at the pressure of Ichii's hand on the small of my back, softly but insistently guiding me closer, it began to fade once more. "Let's kiss~"

"Eh? K-kiss? Wh-Why?"

His touch was electric, searing against my skin as he slowly lifted my chin up, causing my cheeks to flush deep red. "Because you're cute." That, in my opinion, didn't equate to a valid answer. But, I guess I was in no condition to complain. I was far too embarrassed to think straight.

A startled gasp escaped my lips. "C-cute?" Stammering uncontrollably, I could barely force the word out. "But wait a minute...!"

In the dying afternoon light, his eyes really did look like sunsets for their own.

"Stop!" The command came from Rokka, as she leapt straight out of the tree, evidently with the full intent of pushing us apart. Ichii merely grinned, looking as child-like as I had ever seen him, and wasted no time in trapping her in an expertly timed charm capsule. "Let me out!"

Ichii ignored the order and angled his back to the young girl for good measure. "Stay there for a time out!"

My hand fluttered to my chest as I allowed a tentative smile to creep at the corners of my lips. "Oh, I see. So the kiss was just an excuse to lure Rokka out." That definitely helped to steady my erratic heartbeat.

Ichii glanced over, a decisively wicked smile in placed as he shot me a wink that, in certain cases, would surely be more than enough to make some girls melt from several meters. "I wouldn't have minded if we kissed." I couldn't help but curse his teasing. He merely chuckled as I blushed brighter than humanely possible.

* * *

"There's only one way to undo the spell. Hikari needs to kiss someone who drank the potion." Rokka had her arms folded. That deadly scowl was definitely directed solely at me. "Many people accidentally took the potion, but you don't have to kiss all of the them. You only need one to help you out."

Ichii looked extremely relieved. "So, that's it?" He received a small confirming nod in reply.

I, on the other hand, frowned intently, and drew my arms a little tighter around myself. _N-No way... Even if it's for breaking the spell, I can't kiss someone on the..._

 _On the lips._

Ichii regarded me with a concerned expression. I returned a half-hearted smile.

 _But... If I have to pick any of them... Who would it be? Well... I barely know Gou at all... He's always been a mystery to me, and I seriously doubt that fact will ever change. He's very mature, even more so than Ichii, and that's saying something. Then there's Forte, and it's not like I'm on any better terms with him. Though, when he's not trying to kill me, I guess he can be pretty friendly. And San? I don't even know where to start with her._

 _That leaves..._

 _Zero._

 _We're close. That much should be blindingly obvious. And while Zero could be brash and loud, and maybe a little insensitive at times, I knew he was also sweet and that he could be oddly protective when it came to certain matters (one of which I couldn't deny was myself). Despite that closeness, I guess we do fight with each other, more often than with Ichii. Sometimes he can be too hotheaded; matched with my meekness and sensitivity, the results often caused sparks to fly. But, aside from the occasional spats, we always seem to be able to convey just how much we truly care for each other._

 _So maybe..._

 _Maybe I could kiss him..._

 _But-_

 _Would it change anything between us?_

"I think... I'll pick San."

Ichii still had that tight-lipped expression, and, by now, the shadow of concern was unmistakable. It was comforting to know that he cared. "I guess we'll started heading there, then."

"Ichii-sama, I'm going, too!" Rokka exclaimed, her pitch higher than usual and tone distressed as she bounced anxiously around inside the little bubble. "You wouldn't leave a five-year-old out her alone, would you?"

After trading a short look with me, in which I merely shrugged, Ichii sighed and lifted her up into his arms. Rokka seemed to be positively elated at that. I suppose Ichii must have noticed my slight wariness, for he said, in a severe voice, "Don't try anything."

"Of course I won't." I, for one, didn't believe her even for a second. Even smiling sweetly up at Ichii didn't seem to convince him otherwise, either. When she began to chuckle softly, though, my eyebrows disappeared into my hairline and Ichii looked just as confused as I felt. "She doesn't really need a _person_ to kiss her on the mouth to break the spell, but I won't tell her."

"I get it now."

Rokka flinched. Visibly. Which wasn't incriminating _at all._ "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yep. Loud and clear." The boy confirmed, giving me a gentle tug on the wrist. "Change of plan, Hikari. Instead of looking for them, we're heading straight back to the villa." It wasn't easy to miss the low growl that rose in Rokka's throat as I obediently began to follow. Neither was it particularly hard to notice how much Ichii was struggling to containing the, evidently furious, girl.

"Everyone!" She yelled, louder than I thought she could manage with her tiny child lungs. "Hikari's over here!"

I gasped as they all came hurtling out from the undergrowth and stampeded over, all calling for me in strange, distorted voices. For a brief moment, I stumbled back, wide-eyed with horror. Then, I whipped around and bolted. I ran at a speed that would have otherwise earned me an Olympic Gold medal, just catching the end of Ichii's cry as it was lost in the midst of the commotion.

"Hikari, wait!" That voice, however, was much closer. And very familiar. _Zero!_ Evidently, Zero had channelled is inner Roadrunner, as I had barely made it ten more steps before his arms captured me and pulled me flush against his chest. "I've got you." His voice was soft, and despite lacking the perpetually cocky undertone, it was still his voice. And despite being no more than a puppet to the potion, it was still him.

Still Zero.

And yet, not Zero at all.

"Hikari..." My heart, still erratic from the mad sprint, thumped painfully against my chest. _No... It's not him... Zero is under the-_ "I love you." Feeling more than a little flustered, I attempted to regain my senses, which had all but vanished due to his disarming declaration. In a trace-like state, I found myself facing him, lost in those deep pools of blue, with no memory of ever turning around. _Am I... going to kiss Zero now?_ Time almost seemed to stop. It was just me and him, his hand on the small of my back, eyes so close they looked like pure, precious sapphires. _I can't...But this is to help break the spell... Isn't it?_ His hand cupped my cheek. Warm, alive, his butterfly touch barely registered against my tingling skin. _I've no choice...This is to... Help... Him..._

 _Still..._

 _Would it change anything?_

"I can't!" My hands were braced against his chest, pushing him away gently, but insistently. "Zero.. I just can't..."

 _Please understand._

"Hikari!" Ichii had a light grip on my upper arm and was gently tugging me towards him. I felt my face break out into a relieved smile just at the mere sight of him.

"Ichii-"

"I'm sorry." The words shocked me into silence. I had only just realised how close he was. "It won't take long." My cheeks flushed deep red as he lifted my chin higher. "Hold still." Mind blank, I squeezed my eyes closed. It wasn't an appropriate solution, but it was the only one I had to defend against the light pressure on my lips.

 _Ichii...?_

A dog barked.

Loudly.

Startled, my eyes shot open.

And they met with orbs of the brightest green I had ever seen. Not ones of melted chocolate, or the clearest ocean. Ones that displayed a wide, luscious forest, bursting with life. And those eyes belonged to a small dog that I previously failed to notice had been accompanying Ichii but was now nestled safely in my arms.

"Hey, what were we doing?"

"I don't remember."

Ichii sighed. "Just in time."

For a moment, I caught Zero's eye. He looked dazed, but unhurt, and just as confused as the others. The awful constricting pain in my chest instantly lessened, and my heart swelled with relief. "Hey," I said, gently tugging on the brunette's sleeve. "Everyone's back to normal. Why? Did something happen?"

Ichii grinned. That smile caused a tell-tale gleam to return to his eyes. Finally, he was relaxed. "It didn't really need to be a person to kiss with, so I borrowed the neighbours dog and gave it the potion."

 _So... that was it... For a second there... I thought that... Ichii had kissed me..._

"Is something wrong?"

I was momentarily startled. Ever observant, Ichii had easily spotted the change in my mood. I, on the other hand, was not observant and hadn't noticed him stooping low to anxiously assess my expression. "Oh, no. Nothing's wrong." I rewarded him with an uncertain, half-smile. "I'm okay. I guess... I'm still a little shaken, that's all."

He seemed satisfied with that.

Though, my torture wasn't to end there. Rokka, in a fit of rage, decided to channel her emotions in the first way she thought of. Binge-eating the curry. Which, wasn't healthy in normal circumstances. Ichii helpfully reminded me that right now, in this current situation, it was an extra dose of insanity with his concerned shout. "Hey! Rokka, that curry is-"

Two seconds later, the girl was clinging to my middle, declaring her undying love to me.

"Waaaaaaah, Ichii, help!"

* * *

 **A/N: *Gasp* Can it be? A single chapter? Yeah. Manga chapters are a lot more difficult to write than I expected~**

 **Despite that, I hope you enjoyed it. I think I'm getting the hang of cutting back on my long winded descriptions, which I'm pretty glad about. I edited a few of the very beginning chapters as well, so I'm feeling fairly good about that.**

 **Also, I really need to pull myself together. I hadn't realised it'd been almost a month since I updated! Hugely sorry about that.**

 **LoveInuyasha22:** **Thank you! I'm really glad you liked that last chapter. And finally, one of the manga only chapters I told you about! I hope this lives up to your expectations.**


	20. Here Comes His Fiancée! Part 1

The wind whipped harshly at my face, worsening the soreness of my lips and mercilessly attacking the delicate skin at the tip of my nose. Above, the sun was obscured by countless clouds, all a cheerful myriad of grey, grey and hey, what do you know, even more grey. It certainly appeared to be depressing and the humidity of the air was a tell-tale sign of the thunderstorms that were likely to arrive at some point during the day.

I barely managed to dodge past a women with a stroller who was taking up way too much of the pavement, challenging her disapproving gaze with a sheepish grin as I continued my dead sprint after catching a nearby brick wall to regain my balance.

Evidently, today was not my day. Unsuspecting me hadn't bothered to check my alarm the night before and had subsequently slept in after it failed to go off. Neither Ichii or Zero had appeared, and after thoroughly checking every inch of the house, I deduced that they were gone. Which was just _perfect,_ since I'd wasted even more of what little time I had remaining with trying to find them. I'd forgotten my books, too, so I was forced to double back for those and now, as I hared around the corner, I slammed hard into what I was certain was a sturdy wall and fell backwards onto my rear.

"Ow," I moaned, massaging my shoulder which was still stinging from the impact. With a sudden start, I realised that I hadn't clumsily crashed into an object, but a _person._ "Oh, I'm so sor-"

"That sure was an impressive crash, huh?"

The boy was unfamiliar, so I couldn't help but hesitate as he offered me his hand. Though, his smile seemed warm and actually genuine, so it quickly put me at ease and allowed me to shake off my brief feelings of trepidation and accept his help. "Don't be such a scatter-brain, cutiepie. You've got to be more careful when you go around corners, okay?" An easy wink later, and the boy was throwing a small wave over his shoulder as he continued on his way.

 _He... was really nice._

For a moment, I was so caught up with staring after the mysterious boy that it completely slipped my mind about how late I was. And Zero would surely have scolded me severely if he ever managed to find out about how unaware I had been.

I flinched. Being distracted as I was, I hadn't even heard the footsteps approaching me. The hands covering my eyes were unfamiliar, and the movement was so unexpected, my heart almost missed a beat. Too cold to be Zero's, yet too warm to be Ichii's, too soft to be the former, yet the fingers weren't as long or slender as the latter. Despite that, I couldn't sense any malice, or any indication at all that this person intended to cause me harm. While it was a fairly ridiculous reason for remaining quiet and obedient, I still reined in my training and stopped myself from flying into a hurried defence.

"Ne, you know, you shouldn't go all space cadet out here. It's not safe." I regained the power of sight as the obstructing hands were removed and the boy nosed his head around to reveal himself with an easy grin. Hiro. Of course, only he could act so familiar, even after all the time that had passed and the considerable distance that had amassed between us. "Especially for someone as cute as you," He lightly squeezed my cheek between his thumb and forefinger, his eyes, as always were bright, alive and holding an endearingly teasing twinkle. "Someone could snatch you up easy." He snapped his fingers to demonstrate the said ease of the action.

"A good morning to you, too, Hiro."

He didn't seem at all bothered about my swift change of subject and at my subtle indication, he immediately complied and released me, falling into step beside me.

"Morning, Hika-chan." He greeted enthusiastically and merely chuckled when I rolled my eyes and bumped him with my shoulder as retribution for the old nickname. "I can't call you that any more? Why the sudden change?"

The question caught me off guard and caused faded memories to surface. Painful ones, that I had all but forgotten, ones that I had safely buried in the furthest corners of my mind. I hesitated for a moment, before quickly pushing them away and steadying myself with a deep, somewhat calming breath.

Pursing my lips, I responded bluntly. "It's too childish." Another pause, in which I allowed the tension to dissipate from my shoulders and an faint smile to creep onto my lips as an apology for the unintended harshness of my demeanour. "Besides, we haven't really spoken much in the past couple of years, remember? If you think about it, it's not all that sudden."

While the boy accepted the answer easily enough, he was still prepared to play the difficult card and pouted in an obviously fake manner to lighten the mood. "I think it's cute."

I humoured the boy with an amused smile.

"I can't believe I've only just realised! Jeez, looks like you're not the only one who needs to get their head out of the clouds." At my inquiring gaze, Hiro cut straight to the chase. "Your bodyguards aren't here. That's really weird. Those two never usually leave your side for even a second." The look of genuine concern on his face was more than a little sweet. "Did you guys fight or something?"

"Not that I'm aware of?"

While he did raise an eyebrow at the uncertainty in my voice, he thankfully knew better than to press the issue any further, so, instead he hummed in acknowledgement and distracted himself by casting a lazy glance towards his watch. It was easy enough to see the shock as he performed a quick double take. "This is so bad!" He exclaimed, already grasping my hand as he urgently coaxed me into a hurried sprint. "We're so going to be late! Come on, Hikari."

"O-Okay!"

* * *

When we entered the classroom, red-faced and gasping for breath, we discovered where the boys had disappeared to. Zero was perched on his usual chair, thoughtfully chewing on the end of his pen, no doubt attempting to complete some homework at the last minute, as always. Ichii, on the other hand, actually spared a moment to glance up from his book and raise an eyebrow at my present company, but he smiled nevertheless.

"Aaaaand safe!" Hiro declared, his grin infectious as he quickly straightened his wind-swept hair. He spared a moment to tuck a wayward lock of mine behind my ear, while I busied myself with smoothing down my skirt. "We made it. Good job, Hikari." I awkwardly tapped his outstretched fist, which, by his reaction, he thought was the epitome of cute and enticed him to ruffle my hair.

At my protest, he grinned cheekily and danced out of my reach, towards his friends, returning a lazy salute to my small, hesitant wave.

I made a beeline for Kei and Ayumi, perching on the formers desk as we traded greetings before Kei raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Care to explain any of that? I didn't realise you guys had got so close again."

Ayumi looked just as perplexed, which was more than a little amusing. I simply shrugged. "It was weird, like no time had passed at all."

"I'm glad. It doesn't seem like the dynamic you two share can be broken so easily."

I rolled my eyes at her words. "I suppose so, and it would be nice to get more opportunities to talk. But it was just a coincidence, we just happened to run in to each other. I guess it never would have happened if I'd actually been on time today." Surprisingly, the thought seemed somewhat depressing.

"Hey, Earth-To-Hikari, is anyone in there?" I poked my tongue out at Ayumi as she gently tapped my head with her knuckles, which caused the girl to grin. She nodded over to the boys. "Guess you'll be off then?" A sad smile graced my lips, I sorely wished I was able to spend more time with my friends, but with my hectic life right now, it was out of my control. I didn't want to pull them into my problems, after all. Kei lightly flicked my forehead, and my attention flickered back over to the two of them. "Cheer up." Ayumi commanded. "We're still on for lunch together, right?"

I nodded softly, already feeling my spirits brighten. "Definitely. I'll make sure I'm there."

We parted and I headed over to the boys, hands on hips and sniffing dramatically. "You guys didn't wait for me. How could you be so cruel?"

Ichii abandoned his book in favour of addressing me directly. "I came early because I'm on day duty." He glanced over at Zero, confusion marring his expression. "I thought you said she was in the bathroom?"

"Well, I wasn't lying." The boy replied, a small smirk on his face as he stooped low to add the finishing touches to his work. Catching sight of Ichii's narrowed eyes, the boy looked somewhat indignant. "What? You didn't specifically ask _which_ bathroom it was. And anyway, I expected her to catch up in a couple of minutes, it's not my fault she's so slow." That explanation earner him a light smack upside the head via Ichii's book as punishment.

"Dork."

"Hey!" Zero complained, rubbing the injured area. "She's the idiot who didn't check her alarm. Blame her!"

"What did you say?" The boy bailed from his seat just in time as I lunged at him and then continued to dance tauntingly out of reach as I chased him around the classroom. "You get back here, Zero!" I ordered between laughs, while he rang off a whole list of names that we both were fully aware he didn't actually mean. "Just you wait until I catch you!"

"Oh, yeah?" He challenged, his lips spread in a wide, Cheshire Cat style grin. "Like that'll ever happen. You're waaaaay too slow~"

I managed to catch him around the neck and was fully prepared to noogie the captured boy when the door was violently shoved open, startling me so much that Zero succeeded in slipping free. "Greetings! I am here!" I cocked my head to the side as I surveyed one of the two figures standing in the doorway. Same braid, same clothes, same brown, brown eyes. That was definitely the guy I met earlier. Which begged the question, what exactly was he doing here? He caught sight of me, and smiled in recognition. "Hey, it's you! You're that cutiepie for earlier."

Uncertain of how to reply, I simply bowed, feeling a little awkward. "Thank you for this morning."

He looked nonchalant as he manoeuvred his way through the classroom, a certain confident swagger to his step as he did so. "It's no problem at all. I'm just glad you were alright." That said, he carefully took my hand and raised it to brush against his lips.

While the motion was unexpected and embarrassingly intimate, the blush that rose wasn't as furious as it would have been if it had been either Zero or Ichii who had performed the action. Surprised, and feeling a lot more awkward, I carefully stepped back and twirled a raven lock around my finger to distract myself from my classmates incessant inquiries and complaints about me apparently always stealing the _cute_ guys.

Lips pursed, Ichii regarded the two warily. "What exactly are you doing here, Kuku?" The fact that Ichii knew the boy by name should have been a clear indication that something wasn't quite right. Though, evidently, I was too caught up with being oblivious to notice.

"Looking for someone." Was his rather blunt, offhand reply. Though, upon catching sight of Zero, who I had just noticed was attempting to inch his way out of the classroom as inconspicuously as possible, his eyes lit up. "I knew I'd find you someday if I tracked down the Crystal Pearl!" _What? The Crystal Pearl? That means... They're examinees!_ "I finally found you, Zero!"

"W-what the hell?" Kuku used Ichii's desk to propel himself into the air, almost as if it were a springboard and not a stationary piece of wood. For a moment, I wasn't exactly sure whether he intended to attack Zero, or to simply squish the helpless boy with the mother of all glomps. Though it seemed to be leaning on the latter, which is when Zero decided to take drastic measures. "Stay away!" He ordered, and blindly kicked out in what I suppose was a rather disastrous attempt to push Kuku away from him. Yet Zero, being Zero- which was, of course, a complete idiot- had not only prevented the hug but also managed to tear off Kuku's entire shirt in the process.

Which, I guess is how everyone discovered that _he_ was actually a _she._ It'd be pretty difficult to miss that now that her bra and a whole lot of cleavage was on display to anyone who cared to look.

"N-No way... You're... A girl?"

From the ominous aura surrounding the girl, it looked as if she was set to murder him in the most painful way that was human possible. Zero's face was pale and, for the moment, devoid of any emotion. Evidently, he was in shock, due to his cheeks slowly rising in colour. "C-Crap. I'm sorry. It was an accident, I _swear._ I didn't mean to-"

Instead, she didn't meet any of our expectations and merely sprang a hug on the unsuspecting boy. "I'm so happy!" She exclaimed, while Zero busied himself with blatantly searching for a way to extract himself without being too harsh. "You're finally interested in me!"

"G-Get away from me!"

Apparently, the extent of Zero's chivalry didn't extend much further than his short temper. More than a little exasperated, he gave the girl a firm, two handed shove to release himself from her clinging arms. That, of course, didn't bode very well with the girl. It appeared like she didn't appreciate Zero's manners, though I couldn't see why. He was _such_ a _saint,_ after all. "Why? Didn't you want to see me naked?"

"What?" The poor boy blushed profusely and averted his gaze. "No way!" Unfortunately, I was the new object of the said boy's gaze, which appeared to make him all the more flustered.

"Z-Zero?" Despite the fact that my voice was small, tentative even, the boy still flinched. His eyes flickered uncertainly over my face, taking in my expression and how my head was slightly cocked to the side, perfectly displaying my confusion, and then they shot straight to my feet, where they stubbornly remained the entire time I was speaking. "I-I don't understand... What's going on? What's... your relationship with her?"

Kuku pursed her lips, her eyes narrowing dangerously at the boy. "You didn't tell your friends?" The disapproval was evident in her sharp tone.

Zero threw her a dark look. "There's nothing to tell."

Kuku completely ignored his words, and the way he squirmed when she pulled him in for another hug. "Zero is my fiancé!" She seemed quite proud about that fact. I, on the other hand, was not.

Stunned. There was no other word to describe my reaction. I was just completely stunned. Somehow, this was different from before, when Rokka fabricated her entire relationship with Ichii out of thin air. Then, it was cute and I was... I was _happy_ for him, wasn't I? But this was harsh reality. And the terrible feeling twisting like a knife deep in my gut was the bitterest and most unpleasant I had ever experienced. I hadn't felt at all like this before, though I suppose I wasn't this close with the two when it happened.

 _So that must be it... right? I'm just hurt because Zero never even bothered to tell me._

He spoke through gritted teeth. "Will you quit it with the whole marriage thing already? In case you forgot, that was something our parents decided. Not me." He sharply turned his back on her, arms folded crossly as expression hardened into one of true resentment. "They didn't even ask me first!"

Kuku dismissed his words with a furious stamp of her foot. "Still! A promise is a promise and I am scrupulous about keeping it! So, I became an examinee in order to meet you in the Human World. I've done all this hard work to find you, now resign yourself to returning to the Magic World and marrying me!"

Zero easily dodged her clumsy lunge and bolted for the nearest window. "Gimme a break. Why do I have to marry you?" He lifted the latch and shot one last dark look at the girl. "I'm outta here." With that, he vaulted out with incredible ease, Kuku following closely behind. With Zero's cat-like grace, I didn't need to have cause for concern. He'd proven himself quite capable of leaping out of second-story windows on numerous other occasions without even the slightest hint of injury. So, when no terrible cry arose from the girl, I assumed he was perfectly fine and bailing out to one of his many secret hiding places.

I could barely handle my classmates excessive noise after the abrupt departure of the two. Honestly, I could hardly muster up the energy required to correct them on my relationship with Zero _once again_. It was the same thing day in, day out. If I'm not going out with one, then it _must_ be the other, because it wasn't as if I could suddenly have _friends_ who just _happened_ to be _guys_ without having to be romantically involved with one of them.

And that was right...

It wasn't as if me and Zero were an item.

I didn't care at all whether he had a fiancée.

Zero was free to do whatever he liked.

And his love life was of no concern to me what-so-ever.

But still... Even with the captured boy struggling to free himself from her persistent grip on his arm... Or her stealing his shirt so she could sew back on his missing button, much to the disgruntled boy's embarrassment... And even though he firmly refused the bento she'd made for him... And looked so incredibly flustered when he barely managed to win the battle against her as she tried to practically force him into sleeping on her lap... I couldn't help but feel...

Pained...

And empty.

It shouldn't bother me at all. I was supposed to be a sensible, mature girl, after all.

But for some reason...

It did.

* * *

Taking a deep breath, I juggled the items in my hand and carefully pulled them closer to my chest. I'd lost the quick, deciding game of Rock-Paper-Scissors and, as punishment, was sent on the usual vending machine run.

I chanced a quick glance upwards at the dark expanse above me. Unlike this morning, there wasn't even a smattering of white. The clouds were oppressive, hanging low on their solemn march across the sky. It was humid enough for small tendrils of hair to curl around my face, though thankfully my uniform didn't feel the need to cling to my skin in a sweaty embrace, and I could almost feel the electricity pulsing in the air. A thunderstorm was building, bringing in it all the furious energy of a tornado.

Wanting some time alone to clear my head, I'd decided to take the scenic route on my way to swing by the courtyard. Due to my dramatic performance in volleyball earlier- where for once I actually managed to get through an entire PE lesson without my Klutz tendencies appearing AND to score several kick-ass points against the opposing teams- I was sure that both Kei and Ayumi would understand. They could easily see how tense I had been lately.

But, evidently today was _really not my day._ It was just my warped, twisted bad luck that I managed to stumble across the two people I had so desperately wished I could avoid in the most compromising situation imaginable. Some deity up there _really_ enjoyed messing with me, I was sure of it. Because really, what else I was supposed to think when I spotted Kuku dressed only in lingerie and wearing _Zero's goddamn shirt._

And that, I suppose, was what brought me to the end of my tether. The abundance of sweet rolls and drinks tumbled out of my arms, and all that remained was the juice cartoon clutched tightly in my hand.

"Wh... What the _hell_ are you both doing looking like that?"

Zero's head snapped around so fast, I was at least mildly surprised it didn't induce whiplash. "H-Hikari?" His gaze shifted from Kuku to me, or more importantly, my horrified expression. Face paling considerably, he held his hands up in a surrender sign and gestured helplessly around. "Wait- This isn't what it looks like-"

He was swiftly interrupted by Ayumi's precious cartoon of grape juice hitting him square in the face. If she had ever witnessed how I desecrated the sacred grapes, I would've been unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of her deadly wrath. "You're sick!" My voice rose a whole octave as my throat painfully constricted. "I don't believe you. Hiding out here with her when she's dressed like _that!_ And... Y-You... You actually looked happy! Baka! Pervert!"

Mouthing wordlessly, he took a step towards me, still desperately trying to find a way to defend himself. Panic flitting across my face, I stumbled back like he would suddenly rear forwards and bite me. Fleetingly, I caught sight of his expression softening and the pain flashing bright and hard in his eyes as I turned sharply on my heels and bolted. "Hikari- Wait!"

I didn't.

And I only increased my pace as Zero sprang into a hasty pursuit, still calling after me. My heart felt like it was about to explode from the whirlwind of conflicting emotions roaming rampant inside. So distracted was I, that I didn't even realise what direction my legs were taking me in until I was halfway through the courtyard, dashing straight past my two very confused friends.

But Zero was so close. I could hear him cursing as he came careering around the corner and almost collided with a Sakura tree. So I didn't stop, or hesitate for even a second. Especially when I felt the murderous aura emerging from the school's resident demon, Kei, who's frightening form revealed itself to those who dared to hurt her precious friends in any way, shape or form. Instead, I headed straight for the doors of the building, barging straight between some of my fellow classmates and disappearing down one of the many hallways in an attempt to lose the persistent boy.

I only slowed when I was certain of two things, that I had left Zero far behind, and that my legs could no longer carry me any further. My lungs were already burning up, but the searing pain hardly registered compared to the twisting, aching pain in my heart. Grabbing the wall for support, I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, attempting to rid myself of that agonising feeling. But, I found very quickly that it only grew so much worse the more I focused on it.

" _When I see you being friendly with other guys... I'm not really sure why, but it pisses me off!"_

 _"I'm glad... As I thought... It's better for Hikari to be how she usually is."_

" _Hikari... I love you."_

My breathing was weak, frantic. It shook, almost as much as my entire body. A red haze sparked in my eyes, and I struck out at the wall, a broken, distressed wail rising from the very depths of my being. _Idiot, Hikari! That means nothing. All of it... meant nothing. What's wrong with you? It's not like he even remembers saying that... That... He loved you... He was under the love potion, after all... So, it... It was nothing._

 _Then why...? Why is it that I'm so irritated?_

 _I shouldn't care._

 _I... I don't care..._

 _But... If that's true..._

 _Then why does it hurt so much?_

My fist slowly clenched into a fist as I allowed my forehead to rest against the cool plaster. "Because I'm jealous."

"Ne... Is that you, Hikari?" Tense and wired to bolt for the nearest exit, I slowly inched my head around in the direction of the voice. Though, I needn't have been worried. It was only Hiro, leaning awkwardly out of the music room doorway, an acoustic guitar hanging causally from the loose strap slung over his shoulder. His expression softened as he carefully assessed the frantic state I was in, with cool, unwavering eyes For a moment he ducked away, though he quickly returned, offering me a chocolate bar and a gentle smile. "I'm right here. Do you need to talk about it?"

His kindness triggered the sudden collapse of the barrier I had been building up.

"Oh, no," He said, though his voice remained, not irritated, but somewhat amused. "Here come the waterworks."

And that they did.

There was no slow, gradual beginning. The wave hit me hard and fast, causing me to double over as my body convulsed from the violent, jerking movements of the sobs. "Look at you, so emotional." He appeared to be a little hesitant as he slowly raised his arms up and out. "Come on," He encouraged, and his voice held so much sweetness as he smiled that soft, reassuring smile. "Bring it in."

I stumbled blindly into his embrace and buried my head straight into his chest. He wasted no time in commencing to stroke my hair and whisper comforts in my ear. And suddenly, it was like were we children once more, and his calming presence helped to sap the pain away from my scraped knees, or fragile, shattered feelings. All that was missing was an appearance from my omnipotent best friends, who always seemed to arrive exactly when I needed them.

At first, I was confused when he pulled away but the light tug on my wrist that coaxed me into the room banished my worries. After settling me down on a chair and perching on a nearby desk, he rested the guitar comfortably on his leg, and carefully struck up a pretty tune. Sparing a moment to glance at my expression, his lip quirked up at the side in response to my surprise. I allowed my eyes to flutter closed as the melodic sound slowly mellowed the darkness encompassing my soul. A pleasant, rich voice quietly mingled with the soft strumming, and after a confirming glance, I relaxed further. Hiro had never really enjoyed singing. But, humming seemed to be an entirely different matter altogether.

I was startled when the door opened, abruptly halting the beautiful music. Zero was doubled over, grasping the handle for support as he caught his breath. "Yo... Have you... Seen Hikari?" Eyes widening, I slowly slid from my chair and backed away as inconspicuously as I could. Though, despite my drastically improved ninja sneaking skills, Zero recovered quickly enough to catch a fleeting glimpse as I slipped out through the back.

"Hikari!" I made it exactly four steps before he snatched my wrist and yanked so hard the force made me slam straight into him. "Stop running, will you?"

"Let go of me!" I exclaimed, struggling in vain to free myself from his firm grip. "Leave me alone!" I released a startled shriek, as, all of a sudden, I flew backwards. Zero had rather suddenly done exactly as I instructed, and was studying me, expression one of utter concern.

"Are you crying?"

I hurriedly turned my back on him and swiped furiously at my eyes. "No." I cursed myself for sniffing softly. "Don't flatter yourself! Like you could ever-" I could hear the obvious tremor in my voice and fought valiantly against it. "Ever... make me..." He must have heard how pained my next breath was. I could almost feel his outstretched hand as it hovered just above my shoulder, the boy too hesitant to make contact.

Though, as we both became aware of the quickly approaching footsteps, it seemed as though Zero didn't even think as he yanked me forward, through a couple more corridors and hurriedly into the nearest locker. His finger gently pressed against my lips, halting any attempt at speech. "Shhh," He instructed, almost inaudibly. "Stay quiet for a bit." And, because I trusted him, I did. We barely moved as Kuku passed by, her confusion evident at Zero's peculiar disappearance. He waited for a brief moment, head cocked to the side, listening intently until he was satisfied.

"I think she's gone." His breath smelled like the peppermints he was addicted to. It was distractingly good. "Let's get out."

In hindsight, that decision was a mistake. I wasn't exactly sure who was to blame, but we tumbled out onto the floor, right at the feet of a _very_ pissed off Kuku. "Zero... What is the meaning of this?" Her narrowed, hawk-like eyes assessed us in one, fatal swoop. _Yeah. We're so screwed._ "You were cheating on me, weren't you?"

"I'm not going out with you, so I can't even have an affair!"

His protest fell on deaf ears.

"That's it. I'll never forgive you for this, Zero! You won't like her so much if I curse her, will you? Tarot Spell: Animal Change!" In an instant, Zero had lunged forward and angled his body towards the attack. Though, his attempt was futile and only succeeded in leaving himself helpless to the spell as well. "Huh? Zero's under it, too." The girl simply shrugged, a wicked smile taking up her features. "Well, that works out perfectly. You see that spell? It turns you into an animal. It's only partial now, but you'll keep evolving..." Cautiously, I reached up and touched the silky fur on my ears. Long and elegant, there was no doubt about what animal they belonged to. "Ultimately, you'll transform completely and remain this way for ten years."

 _T-Ten years? I can't stay a bunny for ten whole years! What about my mum? And school? All my friends?_ It seemed as though the same thoughts were racing through Zero's head. Though, I had to admit, he looked pretty cute with those dog ears and fluffy tail.

"Well, enjoy what's left of your human life." Kuku said, brightly, as she threw a lazy wave over her shoulder. "See ya!"

 _This can't be happening!_

* * *

 **A/N: You don't understand how long I have been waiting to write this episode! Ever since I started this fic, I've been looking forward to writing Animal Hikari & Zero. Also, I've been playing around a lot with what I wanted her to be. I debated between a fox (mainly because I could use the ears to express a lot of her emotions) a mouse (because that would suit her personality better, wouldn't it?) and a rabbit, which is what I finally decided to go for.**

 **I'd love to hear your thoughts on the chapter, every little bit helps to improve my writing! I've also been a little worried about Hikari's building jealousy. Did I go too overboard?**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it~**

 **LoveInuyasha22: Thank you, as always for your review! I'm glad you liked that last chapter, since I was really happy with how it turned out. After reading back on it, I noticed how much my descriptions had improved! Did you see that, as well? Well, I was fairly tempted to go against the Manga and actually have them kiss, but I decided against it in the end. I'd rather ramp up the shiptease to extreme levels before confirming which way I'm going with pairings.**


	21. Here Comes His Fiancée! Part 2

Zero inhaled sharply.

Footsteps, accompanied by excited female voices, were quickly approaching our position. My ears swivelled to track their progress, and I was so absorbed in this task that I hadn't even noticed that Zero was moving until he had slipped his hand in mine and pulled me flush against his side; with me half-stumbling, half-running beside him as he dragged me into the Infirmary.

He slumped against the door, a massive, deep sigh of relief heaving from the very depths of his chest. He closed his eyes, and the tenseness around his lips dissipated somewhat.

I, on the other hand, didn't waste even a moment. I instantly went over to the medicine cabinets and began scouring the shelves. "This spell has a cure, right?"

"It does," Zero replied, his voice threadbare with exhaustion as he lazily teased a single eye open. "But that's not going to help us at all. The antidote is near impossible to find in the Magic World, so there's no way you'd ever find it just lying around in here." He raked his fingers through his hair, causing the ends stick up at awkward angles, as he focused on me with a softened expression. "Hikari... There's no human medicine that can change us back. We're going to have to think of something else."

I hesitated. There was one part of me that wanted to be stubborn and continue searching, despite Zero's words, but, irritatingly, another more logical part could see that that would be pointless. As much as it was unfortunate to admit, Zero was right. Reluctantly, I backed away and fell back against the door, slowly sliding down into a sitting position, and hugging my knees in tight. I wasn't sure what tipped him off to my sombre mood, those I suppose he spotted the numerous factors that I wasn't exactly attempting to hide, like my downcast expression, or how my forehead was pressed against my knees and the way my ears were drooping down low over my back. So, he carefully settled down next to me, reached up and ruffled my hair as he slung his arm around my shoulders.

"This is a mess," He admitted, in a voice he barely raised loud enough for me to hear. "I never meant for you to get caught up in this. It's my problem, after all."

I managed a ghost of a smile, and didn't complain as he drew me a little closer. Instead, I just allowed my head to rest on his shoulder. "Too late for that, huh?"

"Yeah, I suppose it is," He was tense, wired with coiled energy, like a spring. "Are... Are you scared, Hikari?"

"A little bit. I don't want to transform into a bunny, Zero. I mean, they're cute and all, but I wouldn't want to stay that way for ten years. Not when I've got my mother to think about." Zero was gently rubbing a lock of my hair between his thumb and forefinger, which expertly helped me to collect myself. "I watched her self-destruct when dad died. It was awful, she just crumbled away... I think the only reason why she pushed herself on, was because of me. She's always trying to be strong for me. You know, she hasn't cried in front of me in _years._ I feel like she'd deluded herself into believing that if she shows even one sliver of negative emotion, I'd just dissipate right into the air. If I just suddenly disappeared one day, it would _break_ her... And I don't know if this time she'd be able to find the strength to put herself back together... That's what I'm scared about; leaving her all alone. I can't do that to her, Zero. I just _can't._ "

He used the smooth pad of thumb to wipe away the stains from my earlier tears, and lightly squeezed my cheek. "And you won't. We're going to return to our normal bodies, okay?" His ears perked up, and a frown marred his face. There were people moving outside. His hand was back in mine as he guided me to the back of the room, quietly pulling the curtains closed behind us. "Damn, this sucks. We should hide in here until recess is over."

"Yeah."

He sprawled out on the bed, eyes closed contently, feet tucked up close. Though, when the door suddenly opened and the nurse returned, I noticed that, despite his cool exterior, Zero panicked just as much as me. "Is someone in here?" We had only a brief moment to hide, before the curtain was pulled back and she spotted Zero, lying somewhat awkwardly, with the blanket pulled right up over his head.

"What's wrong? Do you have a cold?"

I noticed his eyes flicker down towards me, his hand cradling the back of my head, tucking my ears out of sight. "Uh, no... I've got a headache. Can I stay in here for a while? A nap will make me feel better." Zero's cheeks were flushed scarlet, and I suppose the nurse took this as sign of his apparent sickness. In actuality, him straddling my waist was extremely uncomfortable for the both of us. While this kin of situation wasn't new, it was still enough to fluster us.

"Alright, get some rest. I need to do some work, will you be okay here by yourself?"

"I'll be just fine, thanks."

I cautiously teased an eye open, as the curtain was closed once more. A single ear raised, listening intently to her receding footsteps. "Aaaaaaaand, safe." Zero breathed an obvious sigh of relief, and shot me a little grin... which vanished instantly when his hand slipped. He winced and I felt the movement shudder through my body, though I could do nothing against his weight pinning me down against the mattress, or about how his face was close enough to mine that our breath intermingled between us. He processed this for a moment, blinking owlishly with a totally enchanting expression of total stupidity etched onto his face.

And the he was up and perched on the side of the bed, angling his body away from me. "Sorry about that." he mumbled, head hanging low in an attempt to hide his flushed cheeks from me.

"I-It's okay."

Silence prevailed.

I chanced a minute glance in his direction. His fits were clenched tight in the blanket, shoulders sagging low in defeat. "I don't know what to do. I have no idea how we can transform back..."

I pondered this for a long moment, thoughtfully tapping my finger against my chin. "Well... If I remember correctly, the last time couple of times we had this sort of predicament, the solution involved us having to be be closer, remember? Unifying our hearts was the key to returning to normal when Nanase used that weird curse to switch our bodies. And the time when you accidentally drank that love potion in Karuizawa, we managed to break the spell with a kiss."

"Love potion?" He echoed, brows furrowing. I stammered for a moment, and decided the best course of action was to avert my gaze. "Ah, forget it. That doesn't matter right now. Hikari, I suggest we try the same thing. If we get close, it may undo the spell."

I nodded faintly.

He flew at me, and embraced me. A sudden, awkward kind of thing; he was too strong and too fast, and it drew a startled little squeak from me, but the I relaxed and melted against him, my arms squeezing him just as tightly. His breathing was steady, making my skin tingle as it made contact. I could hear his heart pounding away in his chest, rhythmic and soothing, like a lullaby. His muscles were taunt, tensing and relaxing under my fingers and then he was pulling away, holding me at arms length, fingers gently gliding over the silky fur of my ears, a hint of confusion betraying his otherwise relatively calm composure.

"N-Nothing happened."

Realising what he was doing, Zero instantly retracted his hand. "Yeah." He was messing with his hair again, his movements stiff and lacking their usual confident edge. "I guess all that's left to try is a..."

 _A kiss._

Shifting nervously, I bit my lip. Zero blushed deep crimson and hurriedly looked away. He'd unconsciously been staring, and I'd noticed. "We can't possibly do that, right?" His laugh was forced, almost strangled. I twirled a lock of raven around my finger and nodded mutely in reply. Another long, deep sigh from the boy. "But, if it's our only option... Should we... give it a try? ... The kiss?"

 _Kiss him?_

 _Kiss... Zero?_

 _Well... To change us back... I suppose it'll be al-_

 _ **Bad Thought:**_ _It will change_ everything.

My heart flipped painfully in my chest. Eyes widening, I backed away, clutching a pillow tightly to my chest. "B-But we don't even know if... if the kiss will change us back to normal." All of a sudden, my ears were flicking back and I was flinching as Zero threw the blanket over my head. "Wh-What are you doing-"

When I pushed it off my face, he was looking only slightly flushed as he wagged a finger in my direction. "I was kidding, stupid. Don't take everything so seriously!" He shifted away, hanging his legs off the side, sedately swinging them back and forth. His expression softened, and hair slowly fell across his face. "Sorry... I'm sorry for making you feel... uneasy."

 _No..._

 _Zero... That's not what I meant. I- I didn't mean for it to sound like that!_

 _I just-_

"O-Okay," Zero looked slightly bewildered. "You can... kiss me..." I really wasn't looking at him now, and I could feel my tail twitching nervously. "It's not like... I was reluctant... I just don't want it to change anything between us... I thought that if we kissed, everything would be different. There's no going back from that, you know? I thought we'd suddenly have to put a _label_ on our relationship and consider things and follow all these _rules..._ and... I don't want that. I _like_ how we are now, you know? And I didn't want to lose that. And I know some people don't think what we have is important because I'm not _dating_ one of you, as if _romance_ is the only thing that matters, as if somehow the bond we share doesn't mean anything because I'm not romantically involved with either of you but... That's _not_ true. We're just... _Us._ We don't need anything more than that. Right? We'll define-" I gestured helplessly around. " _this_ how we want to... And we won't let people pressure us into anything. We won't rush because we feel it's what we _have_ to do, as if this only goes one way, like it's inevitable. Most of all, I guess, is that I don't want anyone to gt hurt... You know what I mean? I just... I love you, Zero. Ichii, too. _But,_ I also love my mum. I love Kei, and Ayumi. I love my dad- present tense. You know, I guess I love Hiro, too. But, in my opinion, there's a big difference between _loving_ somebody and being _in love_ with them... And I didn't want to push that boundary by kissing you and making it seem like we _needed_ to be anything more."

I finally pulled in a big, shaky breath and summoned the courage to meet Zero's gaze. He was staring at me, wide-eyed. "You were really worrying about all that?" He flicked my forehead, and chastised me, though his face slowly dropped and he really did think his answer through. "It's just to break the spell, right? I don't think there has to be any other meaning besides that."

I smiled, a soft, tentative tug of my lips, which had Zero's tense shoulders relaxing. "Yeah, you're right."

"No labels. No changes. We'll forget it ever happened, if you want. It's just to break the spell."

"It's just to break the spell," I echoed, nodding lightly. "I'll let you, Zero. You can... Kiss me."

He was gentle, his hand cupping my cheek with his light, butterfly touch. Though, he was bashful when peering into my eyes, a blush brushing across his skin. "Could you... close your eyes?"

I easily obeyed. All that remained was his touch. I was floating on air, with only his hand to anchor me down, acutely aware of the rapidly shrinking distance between us, and how my ears were pricked up and quivering, and how I could feel the subtle shake of Zero's hand as he was leaning in. His warm breath against my mouth was what alerted me to what little distance remained. He hesitated, and I was lost in a wave of peppermint. And I could almost, _almost_ feel his lips against mine, when Zero jerked away, startled by a loud, unexpected noise.

He stared disbelievingly down at his hands.

But they weren't his slender, albeit slightly rough hands any more.

They were paws.

"It's getting worse," He said, faltering as he saw my nose twitching and the way my ears were hanging low over my back. "No, it's alright, Hikari. We'll fix this-"

The door crashed open, smoothly interrupting the bluenette's stammered comforts. "Ah, I've finally found you, Zero." Kuku, standing in the doorway, silhouetted by the light with a smile that was Wicked-Witch-of-The-West evil. "You seem really troubled. Do you regret cheating on me now?" She giggled manically. "This'll teach you. Next time you'll think twice before going behind me back like this."

"Enough!" Zero's voice was firm, and by now, threadbare with exhaustion. "Stop kidding around, Kuku. Change us back, now!"

She honestly debated this for a moment. "Well, if you insist... I _suppose_ I can release you from the spell, Zero."

 _Just... Zero?_

My heart plummeted.

"No way!" And then soared higher than ever before. "You're kidding, right? Leaving her out is ridiculous! You have to release Hikari, too. I'm won't do it without her, there'd be no point at all if she remained like that!"

Kuku threw a dark, poisonous look towards me which might've actually managed to scare me when I was, like, _five_. "Ugh, it's always _Hikari_ this and _Hikari_ that. She can't be that important to you. You... can't care about her more than me, right? I'm your _fiancée_ and I... I love you Zero!" Which, by his obviously stunned reaction, Zero hadn't been expecting. Nor was he expecting the waterfall of tears that quickly followed. "I wasn't marrying you out of obligation. I love... only you... Do you understand how badly I wanted to see you? It's the only reason I came here... I really missed you! But now that I'm here and you're... with her. Why won't you understand how I feel?"

Zero's ears slowly flattened back. He could sense the malice rippling from the girl. "If- If I can't have you... Then I'll make everyone pay! I'll turn this entire school into animals!"

And she did.

Even Zero's clumsy lunge didn't serve to stop her.

His face was pale, and tense and twisted with worry. Before I'd even fully processed the thought, I'd took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He flinched, eyes uncertainly flickering over and his fingers flexed in a small, guarded motion. Ichii blowing through the door complete with wolf ears was enough of a distraction for me to let go, and I was content with how the light had returned to Zero's shimmering blue orbs. "You're both affected, too?" He tipped his head towards me, his smile brimming with charm. "Cute ears." And while I was distracted with blushing, he threw a short glare towards Kuku. "So, you're the problem. The entire school is in a panic, you know."

"If Zero won't love me, then I don't care! Everyone should turn into animals!" She honestly seemed so heartbroken, I actually... _pitied_ her. Love was a fickle thing, with enough power to cause the greatest pain, but enough potential to create something even greater.

"Kuku!" Toto. That small, shy, bespectacled boy from before was leaning against the door frame, panting heavily. "Kuku, stop. Stop it now! This is pointless! It isn't going to solve anything, and you know it. Please, just calm down and change everyone back!"

"Shut up! You just don't understand how I feel. You don't understand me at all!"

For a moment, it really looked as if this timid boy was about to smack her. But then his hand dropped lightly on Kuku's shoulder and his expression softened. "Don't say I don't understand. I've been right by your side, ever since we were kids, and I've always looked after you. I know you've always loved Zero and... how you feel now. I'll always be here for you, Kuku. You're so important to me, I want to stay right by your side, to be that special person that you share your life with. So, _please,_ Kuku, look at me. Listen, this isn't going to make you feel any better and you know it, don't you?"

"T-Toto..."

He carefully drew her into his arms, and she melted against him, nestling her head right into the crook of his neck as the tears flowed freely once more. "I'm here for you, Kuku. Forever. _I promise_."

Zero smirked and ruffled my hair. Evidently I hadn't been subtle enough as I swiped at my eyes. _Idiot,_ He mouthed, affectionately. I channelled my inner-child, puffed up my cheeks and poked my tongue out at him. He seemed at least somewhat amused by that. Though, his expression lightened considerably as he tapped his head and gestured towards me.

Slightly confused, I ran my fingers through my hair, which triggered an insufferable grin from the boy. Then, I realised. The ears were gone. The nose, tail, paws. Everything. Kuku had released the spell. And it wasn't only me, both Zero and Ichii were void of their, admittedly somewhat attractive, animal qualities. Eyes widening, I focused on him with wide, happy eyes. Ichii gave me a fierce, one-armed hug as he guided us out of the room. As we headed towards the courtyard, Hiro shot my a secret wink, and saluted. I copied the gesture, and smiled reassuringly at his slightly concerned expression. He accepted this, and disappeared back into our classroom. Somehow, I had a feeling he'd be smoothing down the situation with Kei and Ayumi.

"Hikari, I'm sorry for causing so much trouble for you."

I waved my hands dismissively. "It's alright, honestly. Trouble is my natural state, nowadays." That enticed a small grin from her. "Are you returning to the Magic World, now?"

She nodded her head, yes. "I was never interested in the exam, anyway." She turned to Toto, who blushed, and beamed brightly. "And I want to nurture my new relationship there!" Kuku beckoned me closer and stooped down to whisper in my ear. "By the way, I think you and Zero make a really cute couple. You must invite me to your wedding, okay?"

I blushed brighter than I thought was humanely possible, and merely stammered as Kuku returned to Toto's side, waving enthusiastically as they left. Zero cocked his head to the side and studied me intently. "What'd she say to you?"

"N-Nothing!"

 _My wedding?_ I chanced a glance up at his bewildered expression. _Well..._

 _I won't completely disregard the possibility..._

* * *

 **A/N: I'm kind of disappointed with how this turned out. It's a little too short for my taste, but I have no idea of what else to add. Since I've been stumped on it for a while, I just decide to Hell with it, and posted it anyway. I intended to add Hiro all the way back in that arc where Ayumi and Hikari had their little disagreement, but I completely forgot. Oops.**

 **Breebreebabygirl: I'm glad you enjoyed it. Well, background on Hiro and Hikari is on the way, I think. I need to figure out how exactly to fit it in. And, I'll do my best!**

 **LoveInuyasha22: Thank you! I'm glad you liked him. His addition is pretty late, I intended for him to make an appearance earlier, I'm too forgetful sometimes.**


	22. The Sick Adventures! Part 1

The wind howled, baying like a wolf into the night, and violently shook the tightly latched shutters. The black clouds billowing in the sky drained all the colour from the neighbourhood, leaving the cars looking like empty shells, the unyielding street lamps morose, and my room tinted bronze in the dying light. The air was heavy and humid, thick with the sweet scent of the rapidly approaching rains and I breathed it in, savouring the fresh crispness of it all, and allowed my curled toes to relax against the plush seat.

A sudden stillness fell over the street, a collective hush that was so sudden it struck a chord inside of me, and in the large silence that followed came a low, rumbling crack of thunder, rolling across rooftops and announcing the start of what the brooding cloud layer had promised since dawn. I shifted eagerly, pressing my forehead against the cool glass just as a streak of hot silver split the sky in two and after a few experimental drops, the downpour began.

After today's rather hectic events involving Kuku and the following chaos that left me utterly drained- both physically and mentally- it was a relief to perch on my favourite spot, the seat of my bay window, in the company of a good book while, outside, the rain patted down against the window.

I inhaled sharply as the door to my closet silently cracked open a couple of inches. The movement was so subtle, the only reason I noticed was because I just happened to have glanced up at that exact moment. After several seconds of deliberating, Zero cautiously poked his head out, gave the room a critical sweep, before using his foot to nudge it back completely. I snapped him a quick salute, and he mockingly lowered himself in a measured bow, barely managing to catch his headphones as they threatened to slide from his neck.

"Hey," He greeted, with a sharp tilt of his head. "You look comfortable."

"I am." I said, sinking deeper into the seat with an exaggerated sigh. He smirked, gaze drifting to just over my shoulder, and another flash of lightning illuminated the room, surrounding him in a halo of silver.

I used my foot to gesture for him to occupy the remaining space, and Zero's eyebrow quirked in amusement. "You're so impatient." He teased, before picking his way around my minefield of a room. Usually I never allowed it to become this messy, but at the time I had been frantic in my haste to locate something. The object in question, however, didn't seem to be of much importance as I had already forgotten what exactly it was.

I poked my tongue out at him, before noticing the absence of a certain brunette. "Where's Ichii?"

"He told me he was going to take a shower." Zero's smirk morphed into a small grimace, and he threw an uncertain glance over his shoulder, back at the doorway he had just emerged from, as if by talking about the boy, he expected the brunette to suddenly appear behind him. "Did you know that he sings in the shower?"

I bit down on my bottom lip to quell my bubbling amusement. "He does?"

He nodded with the weary air of a decorated war hero. "Unfortunately, yes. I don't think he realises I can hear him." He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "It really _kills_ me to say it, but he's not especially _talented_ in that area of expertise." I seriously doubted it was causing him much pain. Knowing Zero, he was more likely to lose sleep if informed that the nearby pet shop was closing down- meaning no more surprise trips to visit the lizards. It seemed as though Zero was still perfectly unaware that his little excursions were common knowledge between both myself and Ichii, which was amusing in itself.

Despite this, I merely nodded in cheerful acceptance. "That must be awful for you." I said, giving him my best sympathetic smile.

"I can't lie, sometimes my ears do bleed for hours after."

That enticed a laugh from me, and I gently smacked his chest, since Ichii wasn't there to dish out retribution himself. "I don't know why Ichii puts up with you."

Zero's pursed lips stretched into an incredibly devilish smirk as he ceased his game of mock pouting to tip his head at me with endearing arrogance. "I do." He said, as he raised the mug nestled in his hands to meet my the level of my eyes, which lit up upon catching sight of the rich liquid lapping sedately at the lip. "Aside from my stunningly good looks and charming personality, of course."

"Of course." I repeated, teasingly poking my tongue out at him as he settled down opposite me, passing the steaming mug over once he was comfortable. "Cocoa?" I asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"Just how you like it."

"You're. The. Best."

"I know- you don't have to remind me." I felt his rumbling laugh reverberating through his body as I jabbed him sharply in the chest with my big toe. He protested weakly, complaining through his laughter that it was uncomfortable, and I smiled sugar-sweet back at him, but allowed him to move my leg back down so it rested lightly in his lap. Whether this was intentional or not was unbeknownst to me, but what _was_ intentional was me lifting and deliberately placing the other there, too.

He didn't appear to be bothered. He merely busied himself with staring out of the window, head propped up neatly by his hand, though I noticed his ears were distinctly more red than before.

My gaze returned to the boy from the intricate text of my novel as he made a vague sound in the back of his throat and leaned in a little too close for comfort. I tilted my head, and watched him somewhat curiously as he shrugged some material off his shoulders and allowed it to unfold. A blanket, I realised, as he carefully wrapped it around my small frame, practically swaddling me up in it, like a newborn baby. I hadn't noticed before due to the darkness of my room. "It's cold in here. Someone as shrimpy as you has to wrap up warm."

I poked him again and he squirmed, shooting me a minute glare which I responded to with the wiggling of the fingers of my free hand, before I smiled, sinking gratefully into the welcomed warmth of the fluffy material. "Thanks, Zero." I said, burning my lips with a small, delicious sip of the beverage.

He grunted _ever_ so eloquently, which wasn't exactly a highly descriptive reply, and hitched his headphones up. I could hear the thumping beats even from where I was sitting. While his head was angled away, I could feel his gaze lingering, and smiled once more before lowering my eyes back down to my book.

"We're okay, aren't we?" His voice was tentative, and barely above a whisper.

I blinked, and nervously licked my lips, allowing my eyes to briefly flicker up and meet his, before giving him a short nod. Evidently, his nerves were not sufficiently appeased, for his eyes still held that kicked-puppy expression that twisted at my insides. I swallowed thickly, and managed to muster up a reassuring smile. "Yeah. We're okay." Kuku ceasing her furious rampage had somewhat cleared the air between the two of us, but it hadn't completely managed to resolve the tension that had amassed during the day and culminated with him catching sight of the faint remnants of my tears.

My ears burned scarlet just thinking about my previously rampant emotions. Deep down, I knew Zero felt guilty about the fact that I'd actually _cried,_ but I could only feel utterly _humiliated_ about being so blinded with jealously. It wasn't, of course, as though I owned Zero. He was free to do what ever he liked. And, admittedly, the boy seemed more thrilled about the prospect of skinny dipping in acid than his betrothal to Kuku. My actions left a horrible ache in my chest- probably the residue of negative emotions that I had no right to be feeling. Or, at least, I _thought_ I had no right to be feeling. Zero was, after all, a very close friend, so maybe I was entitled to be just a _teeny_ bit jealous.

But, with those simple words, the pressure was released, and Zero smiled. A soft, elated curve of his lips that had dimples forming high in his cheeks and enticed a cheerful grin of my own to join his. "Good." He said, with that big old stupid grin that made me want to squeeze his little cheeks like he was a mere child. "Yeah- that's good."

"Yeah, it is." I agreed, and for a moment we just stared at each other, electric blue orbs meeting ones of a deep Sapphire shade. Then Zero's gaze was drawn by a clasp of thunder, and he pulled his headphones back up, and I started to read once more.

I began to feel tired somewhere around the climax of my novel, but I stubbornly ignored the feeling. The storm continued to rage on outside, and by now I had casually managed to drape more of the blanket over Zero's exposed legs. I couldn't believe that he wasn't at least a little cold, in his short-sleeved shirt and shorts, the air had a chilly nip to it that had me shivering more than a couple of times, even with the warmth from the aforementioned blanket and that from the boy himself.

I was peaceful, and, soon enough, the gentle pattering of rain and Zero's constant breaths had lulled me to sleep.

My eyelids fluttered softly, and it took a slow second for me to realise the heavenly warmth surrounding me was radiating from someone else, who had me braced up against their chest, one arm settled around my waist, keeping me firmly secured there. "Hey, sleepyhead." Zero murmured, softly. My hand was resting on the inward curve of his arm, directly above his elbow. That, I suppose, was how he knew I had woke up; it went from utterly limp to careful tensing and relaxing but not moving from its spot.

"Hey," I made a vague sound in my throat, a deep, contented sigh that vibrated throughout my entire body. "Thank you, Zero." Honestly, I would've much preferred to walk of my own accord, but my muscles were far too sore, I felt all stiff and awkward angles, clumsy on limbs that refused to function normally, so I lazily draped my arm around his broad shoulders and nestled into his warm embrace.

"Just so we're clear, I'm only doing this because you'll complain when you hurt in the morning." The boy said, his voice much gruffer now than it had been mere moments beforehand. My eyes drifted up, noticing the redness of his ears and the tint to his cheeks. I smiled, and mumbled an inaudible agreement, resting my head against his firm chest. I could hear the the steady sound of his heart; the rhythmic beats were soothing and enticed a pleasant calm to wash over my body.

Very soon I was curled up on my bed, and Zero was gently pulling the covers up close to my chin.

"Night, squirt." He said, softly, and my mind followed every movement he made as his fingers lightly graced my cheek, lingering fleetingly against my skin as he tucked a stray lock of my raven hair safely behind my ear. I could almost, _almost_ feel his breath tingling the skin on my forehead, before he pulled away, patting my shoulder and silently returning to his own room.

* * *

 _Zero's impish laughter echoed in the vast space surrounding us. Ichii smiled, stooping down into a low, sweeping bow that had us both suppressing giggles, and offered me his hand, discretely showing the tip of his tongue to the younger boy when I accepted with a half-decent curtsy. Zero, ever the mature one, merely puffed out his cheeks and blew a raspberry in return._

 _Colours swirled in a confusing kaleidoscope, but were were laughing, which somehow made it more exiting than unsettling. And... were we dancing? That was surely an accident just waiting to happen. But, sure enough, Ichii was most definitely twirling me and I looked far too elegant to possibly be me._

 _Everything shifted. Bright, vibrant lights gradually dimmed to a grey-scale, and jet black ink rolled down the walls, pooling across the floor and under our feet, yet we were merrily oblivious. And all of a sudden, their faces were distorted, splintered like shattered glass. The ink climbed up my legs, wrapping around my skin in oily tentacles that burned like pure acid, deep into my flesh._

 _Yet, despite this, I remained calm._

 _I threw my head back._

 _And I_ laughed.

 _And continued to dance._

 _Even though both boys had disintegrated on the spot, lost in the swirling darkness._

 _Even though my limbs were being reduced to bones._

 _Until I had faded to a pile of ashes on the ground._

* * *

I groaned exhaustedly as the insistent shaking on my shoulder grew faster. Mumbling incoherently, I pushed the offender away with my foot and stubbornly rolled onto my side, burrowing deeper into my warm cocoon of blankets. After the gripping terror of my earlier nightmare had faded and I was appropriately calm, I had managed to close my eyes without the lingering images assaulting my fragile mind once more. Now, I was drowsy, and comfortable and felt utterly peaceful, so there had _better_ be a good reason for someone daring to wake me _at the ass-crack of dawn._

Contrary to popular belief, I enjoyed sleep very, very much. And in the unfortunate circumstances where I was denied that precious sleep, I transformed into the unholy offspring of Satan himself and ravaged the poor, foolish soul who had made the fatal mistake.

It wasn't a pleasant sight.

Trust me.

The shaking continued, and this time, it was coupled with an erratic mingling of words that fell upon deaf ears.

Clearly, this person had a death wish.

The soft hum in back of my mind gradually grew louder- so much so that I could not longer pretend to ignore it, and was _almost_ able to decipher the jumbled speech. The panicked tone, however, didn't take as much effort to register, even in my weary state.

My eyes snapped open.

It was Zero. I could tell even before I had gained the power of sight. Ichii's butterfly touch would've merely graced my skin- lately he seemed to believe I was a fragile porcelain doll that would shatter under the slightest of pressure. He didn't sound like Ichii, either. His words held different stress and lacked the low, richness of Ichii's smooth voice, but, right now, it lacked the endearingly cocky undertone of his own voice. He didn't smell like Ichii either, which was a strange thing to say. Ichii was soft, mellow, like fresh, crisp air after rain. Zero had a darker, mysterious, almost enticingly spicy edge.

"Zero?"

I lazily rubbed at my eyes in an attempt to swipe at the tiny dew-droplets that clung persistently to my eyelashes, and glittered like diamonds in the shafts of moonlight which danced through the cracks, casting haunting silvery shadows across the room.

In the semi-darkness, Zero's eyes were wide and simmering unnaturally, even in the faint glow of the streetlamp outside. He looked young and lost, and terribly frightened. I felt a tremor of chill run through me, like a wave, and inhaled sharply, sitting bolt upright in my bed, just barely avoiding smacking foreheads with him. "H-Hikari!" Despite his valiant effort at controlling his voice, he sounded as though he was breaking. "I don't know what to do- He's just- I mean- It's horrible! I think he's having a fit- _you've got to_ _do something!_ Help me- _Please!"_

Speechless, I allowed him to drag me from my admittedly pleasant slumber, with me half stumbling half running behind him as we barrelled into his room.

Ichii was lying on his side, curled up in a ball, shuddering. Breathing shallow, laboured, it tore mercilessly like poisoned daggers at my heart, and when he tossed, flailing helplessly against the wild tangle of blankets wrapped taunt around his limbs, my legs almost collapsed underneath me. He was making these _sounds,_ agonised gasps that weren't quite sobs but weren't quite not, either.

Relief flooded to me body. "It's a nightmare. It's alright, he's just having a nightmare." I wasn't sure who I was trying to reassure most. Zero, or myself. "I'll wake him up. He'll be okay."

Under his thin shirt his skin was clammy, far too warm to be normal, and his muscles were tense as steel cable. I shook him, hard, and swallowed thickly to clear the hard lump from my throat. He tossed restlessly underneath my hand, and then all of a sudden my back was slamming into the floor, Ichii's hand like a steel tourniquets around my wrists, his knee pressing down firmly on my chest, pinning me in place.

Blood pulsed through my veins. It was difficult to breathe with his weight pressing down on me, but even then, the motion eluded me. Because this was _Ichii_ and he was _attacking_ me.

His arm was wound right up, fists clenched, ready to strike me right in the face. His expression was twisted mask of hate, cheeks flushed and breathing heavy, brown eyes smouldering with fury I didn't even know Ichii possessed. When Ichii was in regular guy mode, he was sweet and kind, maybe a little _too_ practical at times. But this seriousness was a whole different matter altogether, and when his lips were formed in that that furious snarl, I couldn't help but whimper.

"Ichii?"

My uncertain, highly startled voice was all the trigger that was needed. He wavered, and slowly lowered his arm. "H-Hikari? Oh, _God._ I'm so sorry. God, what the _hell_?" In an instant, Ichii was backing away, blinking the red from his eyes, slowly collecting himself. The anger dissipated, the colour faded, leaving his skin looking terribly wavy. He was drained of energy, breathing rattling in his chest, and was staring down at his hands, utterly horrified.

For a long moment, he swayed on the spot.

And then he slumped forward onto my chest, his sickness quickly dragging him back into a feverish sleep.

Zero shifted, and slowly inched around the edge of the bed. For a moment, I had forgotten he was standing there. He had been so still he could've been mistaken for a statue, frozen with complete shock when Ichii lunged at me, but now he was carefully crouching at my side, arms wrapping tight around my waist as he gently guided me a short distance away. "He looks awful." He murmured, lips drawn in a tight, anxious line.

I nodded mutely, not trusting myself to speak.

He tapped the top of my head, and mustered up a decent half-smile. "Arms out," I obeyed Zero's instruction without hesitation and he assessed my wrists with expert precision. The skin was throbbing faintly, and held a sharp redness from Ichii's crushing grip, but were otherwise perfectly fine. There wouldn't be any lasting impact, but still, Zero seemed far more subdued as he traced the imprint of the boy's fingers with the soft pad of his thumb, silently gnawing on his bottom lip. "Does it hurt?"

I shook my head. "N-No, it doesn't hurt. I'm o-okay."

He had obviously sniffed out my lie, because he narrowed his eyes and I averted mine, shifting uneasily under his scrutinising gaze. "You winced." His tone wasn't accusing. It wasn't angry in the slightest. But still, I flinched, and I retracted my hand, holding it tight against my chest, almost as if it were a barrier between us.

Zero broke the awkward silence by releasing the breath that he had been holding. It was long, shaky and held an unquestionable amount of pain.

"We should move him."

I mumbled in agreement, and with a little help, transferred Ichii's limp form back to the bed. "He's really sick, Zero. Really sick. Honestly, I can't tell what's wrong with him right now. But he's got one mighty fever, and that's going to be absolute hell to deal with." My breath caught painfully in my throat, and while I tucked the covers around Ichii's frame, Zero squeezed my shoulder just a little.

"You're shaking."

I nodded shortly. I was well aware of that fact; now that the adrenaline had worn off, all I could see was the crimson gleam flashing before my eyes. "I was scared," I admitted, in a hushed whisper. "I mean, he wasn't acting like himself _at all_. He looked so dangerous, so _different,_ and for a moment I honestly thought he was going to hurt me. That was awful. _Awful._ What ever he was dreaming of, it shook him up real bad. It seemed as though he wasn't even aware that he was awake. Like... he wasn't even _seeing_ me at all- I mean, it was almost as if it looked right _through_ me..." I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the unnecessary thoughts. "I never want to feel like that again."

I shivered, drawing my arms tighter around my small frame, and Zero dumped a discarded jacket over my shoulders with carelessness that was so obviously forced it was actually laughable.

"Stupid idiot! Why did he have to get sick? He knows how hopeless I am, I'll only make him feel worse! Dammit, what am I supposed to do now?"

I raised an eyebrow and gestured towards myself, the action so wild it almost caused the jacket to slide loose. Zero effortlessly caught it, and adjusted the clothing appropriately, giving me a sharp look that betrayed his strained air of indifference. "Earth-To-Zero, you're not the only one here, you know." I pointed sharply towards my chest. " _I'll_ stay home and take care of him, since I'm obviously more experienced than you." Decision made, I stood straighter, with more conviction and squared my shoulders. "I'm going to do my best to help him get better."

Zero watched me as I lightly traced the outline of Ichii's jaw. For a moment I busied myself with brushing a few locks of Ichii's fine hair away from his face. His skin was still incredibly pale, maybe even more so than before, and that really worried me. "No offence, Shortstack, but you're not exactly gifted with the ability to talk out of your ass. I've never met someone as bad at lying as you are. Do you really think you'll be able to fool Asahina-san so easily? In case you forgot, she's _a doctor."_

I tipped my head up, calling upon my inner-Zero to channel every ounce of arrogance into that one gesture, and smirked widely.

"Who said anything about fooling her?"

* * *

 **A/N: I apologise that this chapter took so long for me to complete! Honestly, I've been really busy over the past week or so, what with having completed my DofE expedition over Friday & Saturday (which I'm still sore from) and having to use what I had left of Sunday to finish the pile of homework that had amassed. Sleeping through most of the day probably wasn't the best idea. Pro Tip: Don't procrastinate. **

**Since I've been surrounded with sick people for the past two weeks or so, my original idea has been warped slightly. I figured, since I've been severely lacking with Hikari and Ichii fluff lately, that I'd give them an arch together- though that has appeared to have failed for the majority of this chapter, too. Oops.** **I'll hopefully redeem myself with the next chapter.**

 **Reviews are greatly appreciated- they really do help me to grasp a better understanding of what you guys like and what you feel may need to be added. Improving my writing was one of the main reasons that I began this story, so it would really help to get feedback on that.**

 **Thank you for reading this chapter, I really hope you've enjoyed it!**


	23. The Sick Adventures! Part 2

I pulled my knees closer to my chest, leaning heavily against the railings of my staircase while I listened to my mother, bustling happily around in the kitchen, busy preparing our bentos in a hurried flutter. Even from here, I could hear her rich voice emanating from inside the room through the open door. With no defined beat, her humming was just a jumble of sound, but it still brought an easy smile to my face.

She always managed to improve my mood, even without necessarily knowing it.

I dared to step closer, making no sound as I descended the remaining distance. Instead of being normal, and simply conversing with her, I opted for my default shyness, and hovered in the doorway, peering out at her from behind the frame. All of a sudden I felt uncertain and awkward, doubt plagued my mind like a disease, and I was terribly afraid that, despite my best efforts, I'd only let Zero down. I had, after all, been so confident when I'd previously attempted to reassure the bluenette. He'd seemed so uncharacteristically distressed, I couldn't help but jump to a solution to remove the frown marring his features, I'd wanted to relieve him of his troubles, and maybe there was a part of me that also wanted him to depend on me for once.

Even if it was just a little.

The humming halted abruptly. That, I suppose, should have been my first clue. Unfortunately, I was far too busy wrapped up in my own troubling affairs to notice. How utterly selfish of me. "Hikari, what are you doing?" I flinched, almost as if I had been struck, and shrank further into the shadows, a sharp flush rising to my cheeks while the nervous energy twisting in my stomach made itself more pronounced. "Why aren't you dressed? If you don't get a move on, you'll be late."

Mentally cringing at my ridiculous behaviour, I spared a moment to scold myself, gather a deep breath, and edge into the room, squinting past the golden sunlight which flooded in through the sweeping windows. "Mental Health day," I said, softly, hugging my arms around my small frame and side-stepping to avoid the harsh glare assaulting my eyes. "I'd like to take one, if that's alright."

She paused, and fully turned to face me, lips pursed, eyebrows knitting together with concern as she studied me intently.

"Of course... But let me ask one question first," Her voice was slow, uncertain. When I didn't protest to her condition, the tenseness around her mouth lessened somewhat, and she allowed herself to continue with her work, addressing me over her shoulder as she did so. "This isn't because you're trying to avoid someone, is it?" I shook my head, and bounced up, perching on the far counter, lightly swinging my feet back and forth. She frowned, ceasing activity once more to hold eye contact with me for a brief moment. Evidently, I'd surprised her. "You're not fighting with anyone?"

I actually took a moment to think. "I'm not. Though, believe it or not, I'd much rather be doing that right now."

"That's quite a statement." I secretly agreed with her. The humming easily returned, with just as much vigour as the bounce to her step. Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder whether she had springs installed into her feet. She handed me a glass, and I took a distracted sip of the cool liquid, savouring how it slipped ice-cold down my parched throat, the movement of my legs making the water lap dangerously close to the lip.

"You're going to hurt yourself if you don't focus."

"When did you become so responsible?" Her eyes seemed to tease and glint and shine all at the same time, and it eased the tension of my shoulders. I crossed my arms with a loud huff, rosy cheeks already puffed up with air as I mock pouted. Her expression softened into one of motherly affection, and she ruffled my raven locks as she passed. "I can see you're worried, Hikari, normally you're far more cheerful. It's practically eating you from the inside out. If fighting isn't the problem, then what is?"

I squirmed for a moment, and avoided her gaze. "You said only one question."

She flashed me a grin, all pearly teeth and devilishly wide, taking on a positively angelic look of innocence. "Well?" She prompted, lightly.

I sighed, and my lips tugged up in a reluctant smile. I figured it was better to explain now, before she pulled her trump card. If Zero found my puppy-dog-eyes to be effective, he would be utterly crushed under the pure skill that Asahina Hitomi radiated like body heat. "I guess I'll surprise you, then. It's actually not anything to do with me at all, really. Zero just called, he said that Ichii's sick." I gnawed on my bottom lip for a brief period of time, choosing my next words carefully as I allowed my gaze to meet hers. "I promised to help care for him. They should be on their way right now."

She seemed to debate this information for a long moment, before slowly nodding her head. "I'll call the school and tell them you're sick. You're doing a kind thing by helping the boys, but this'll still count as one of your two days, so use the other wisely."

I beamed at her, and flung my arms around her middle in a massive, grateful hug. "You're the best."

She laughed, and gave me a quick squeeze back.

I quickly returned upstairs, leaving her to her business. Partly because our conversation had sapped what little time she had in the mornings and I didn't want to cause her to be late, and partly because I was concerned about parting from the sick boy for too long. I checked in on Ichii, the brunette was propped up by his elbows and coughing weakly in sporadic, agonising fits that stabbed painfully at my heart and seemed to be utterly destroying Zero.

In an attempt to quench his rising distress, I forcefully removed the bluenette and instead harboured him in own my room, which unfortunately prevented me from having the opportunity to change out of my nightwear- a pair of baggy shorts and a faded shirt that hung down around my things- I was almost certain it had previously belonged to Ichii, as was one of Zero's various jackets that had slowly accumulated itself into my wardrobe. In the many times I'd snuggled gratefully into its warmth, either inside the comforts of my home or outside on the street, I couldn't help but noticed how pleased it seemed to make the boy, but I hadn't yet felt the need to comment on it.

As soon as I hear the front door closing, both Zero and I clattered down the stairs almost immediately. Tabby mewled excitedly, and trotted along at our heels, despite the nervous energy that spiralled off Zero in big, suffocating waves.

"How are you doing?" I asked, twisting my hands nervously.

A muscle appeared to jump in Zero's jaw as he clenched it. He averted his eyes, and shook his head, seemingly unable to muster up the appropriate words to articulate his emotions. He managed to speak, after I allowed him a moment to collect himself. "I'm doing just splendid. My best friend is _dying_ , how do you think I'm feeling?"

I rolled my eyes. "Be serious."

"I'm trying _-_ it's not what I do best." His expression softened, and his shoulders bunched together in a helpless little shrug. "I haven't ever seen him like this before, it's a lot to take in. I mean, he looks like the dead." _Ichii,_ I thought, _would have punched him for that. If he was in hearing distance. And wasn't so sick that merely standing posed a challenge._

I clapped my hand on his shoulder, rising on tip-toes to do so comfortably, and manoeuvred him to face me accordingly, giving him a gentle squeeze as I did so. "It's alright, Zero. Honestly, he's not as bad as he looks. It's just a really nasty case of the flu." He still didn't appear to be too convinced. "The nightmares just make it seem worse. Trust me, he'll be feeling much better soon, I promise."

Tabby yowled loudly once more, and insistently began to rub herself against my leg, demanding attention. I sighed softly and stepped away, collecting her into my arms as I searched for a tin of cat food for her. "Zero, could you fill up a bowl with cold water? Leave a clean cloth in there, if you can find one."

"Tch. Shrimp's ordering me around like I'm her servant or something."

That amused me, and I poked my tongue out at him. "If I had servants, they'd be much better behaved than you." He shot my a mock scowl, while I cracked open the tin I had discovered and emptied it on a clean plate for the purring kitten. She appeared to be quite content when I placed her down, slinking over and digging right in to her meal.

When I focused on the boy, he was glaring at the full china bowl as if it had committed the most atrocious sins known to mankind. I relieved him of the fragile object, and frowned lightly at him to convey my disapproval. "Glaring isn't going to make him better, you know. It's going to take time. You might even have to wait a couple of days, Zero, so you'd better start being patient now."

"Fantastic." He said, sourly. "Waiting. My favourite. Next to skinny-dipping in acid and having some asshole watch me _bleed to death._ "

I was going to respond with something equally snippy, when Zero's head whipped around so quickly it drew a startled gasp from my lips. If he had retained his dog ears, they would be swivelling to track the process of creaks from the stairs. "What an absolute _ass._ " Zero continued to mutter venomously a whole colourful variety of insults under his breath as he led the way out of the room. I sighed, and placed the bowl on the counter, before following.

Ichii was pushing himself too far.

As usual.

Honestly, I didn't expect anything less of him.

"Hi-Hikari?"

The subtle tremor in Ichii's voice almost slowed me to a halt, but when Zero bounded up and steadied the older boy as his legs gave way, it sparked me back into motion. "What are you doing, Ichii?" I murmured, carefully pushing a few unruly locks from his eyes. "You shouldn't be moving about like this. You're ill, remember?"

His shaking hands ran up my arms, as though checking if I was all there, in one piece, then up my throat until they came to cup my cheeks. I allowed the action. He seemed to be in some kind of frenzied panic- if I stepped away, I was sure he'd only become more worked up. "Come on, Ichii. You need to stay in bed and rest, okay?" He frantically shook his shaggy head, and I chewed on my bottom lip and looked to Zero for assistance. The ever helpful bluenette merely shrugged, and I sighed, too busy with supporting the older boy's weight to really pay attention to his awkward incoherent mumbles as we guided him to the couch.

"Stay here," I ordered firmly. "Rest."

As I turned to leave, Ichii grasped my wrist in a silent plea for me to stay. Though I was rigid in my determination to care for the brunette, the desperation swimming in his ochre orbs made me falter. Expression softening, I traced the outline of his clenched jaw with my fingertips. "Relax," I whispered soothingly, observing how the tension was relieved from his body. "I'll be right back, don't worry."

He appeared to debate this for a short moment, before he nodded, and reluctantly released me.

"Zero, can you make him some soup while I look for medicine?"

Zero blinked exactly three times. "You want me to cook?"

I rolled my eyes, and wheeled around to face him. "No, I want you to wave your magic wand and make it rain from the sky. Obviously, I want you to cook."

He huffed and crossed his arms, a heavy scowl already twisting his features at my exasperated tone. "Are you forgetting that I'm a kitchen hazard?"

I sighed, and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Fine. _I'll_ cook, _you_ look for medicine. It's in the bathroom, but there's not much. Just bring it all down, I'll figure out what I need later. And try not to set anything on fire while you're at it." His mock salute didn't cause even a flutter of amusement, and after smiling sweetly at Ichii, who had been watching the exchange, nonplussed, I entered the kitchen.

Zero was worried, and that was understandable. But his worry made him hard to deal with, and right now, I had enough on my plate. It was already hard enough caring for a stubborn mule like Ichii. Speaking of whom, I was actually getting quite worried about him. His sudden strange behaviour was deeply unsettling, and the whole episode early this morning was totally unlike him. To make someone as gentle and mature as Ichii act like this, so child-like in his desperation, took a lot, and I had a vague feeling that this sickness was drawing on fears the boy buried deep within himself. After all, I had never seen such fury on Ichii's kind face before.

* * *

The water sloshed dangerously as I plunged the cloth in the bowl, expertly wringing out the excess and using the damp fabric to mop up the sweat beading across Ichii's forehead. His half-lidded eyes flickered, and he angled his head to face me, a grateful smile twinging at the edges of his lips.

Zero was watching my every move with hawk-like precision. I was certain that if he continued to pace that intensely, he would bore a hole right through the floor- which I certainly wouldn't be paying for. I could feel his sombre mood radiating off him, and, while his concern was touching, it was both immensely distracting and irritating, especially when I was trying to concentrate. Luckily for me, his incessant babbling had been lowered to a soft thrum by a single, sharp glare, otherwise I would be sporting a rather impressive headache- possibly the size of Cleveland- by now.

"How is he?"

"Exactly the same as he was five minutes ago." I replied, tersely.

I needed to focus solely on Ichii, and more importantly, the fact that the Bufferin (specifically the Kaze EX type) painkillers I practically had to force him to take, along with only several mouthfuls of soup, hadn't yet began to affect his fever. In fact, his temperature had only seemed to rise, along with my stress levels.

"He doesn't look good."

My fingers reflexively tightened around the cloth. I could feel my eye twitch. "That's because he's not."

He carefully considered this for a moment.

"There's been no change?"

I threw the cloth down.

"No." Releasing my breath in a low, angry hiss, I stalked into the kitchen, Zero perking up and following closely behind. "There's been no change." My ire only continued to grow as he observed me noisily searching the cupboards, slamming the doors with shattering force as I did so. "And there won't be," I was using even ounce of restraint to prevent myself from snapping at him, and instead hastily scribbled a list and shoved it at his chest. "Unless you _stop pestering me._ "

"What's this?" He asked, with a totally enchanting expression of utter stupidity, while I plunked myself back down next to the brunette.

I gently dabbed at Ichii's forehead, attempting to cool his feverish skin, and give myself a moment to cool off, before replying. "A list."

"I can see that." That was delivered in total deadpan. "What's it for?"

"Dinner." With lightning fast reflexes, he expertly caught the purse I fielded to him. "And medicine for Ichii. Please buy everything on there. And do take your time, you wouldn't want to miss anything."

I could feel him hesitate. Then, he sighed and his footsteps retreated to the door, which slammed shut behind him. I exhaled and shrank down, propping my back against the seat, and clutching my head. There was a short pause, and then I felt a warm hand cupping my cheek, and tilting my face up. Ichii was leaning over, eyes kind and instantly comforting. "You seem tense. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's all okay," I assured, in a voice that was no louder than a whisper. Our faces were incredibly close, and I expertly ignored how awkward it felt to crane my neck back like this. "I'm just a little stressed out, but I'll be fine." The pad of his thumb moved across my tingling skin in soothing circles, eliciting a semi-bright smile from me. "I feel a lot better now, so rest up. Zero shouldn't take too long out there, so I'll be in the other room, preparing the kitchen. Just call if you need me, okay?"

He nodded, and in the safety of the kitchen, I allowed myself to lean against the cupboards and fully expel my negativity. _Concentrate, Hikari. Ichii is your priority right now._ Gathering the plates, cutlery and chopping boards together, I glanced up, and gnawed on my lower lip. I needed to collect a saucepan. The only problem was, they were stored above the cabinet. Which I couldn't even reach the third shelf of without either standing on a chair, or being lifted by the boys, though this happened infrequently at times when I was far too stubborn to simply allow them to retrieve the item for me.

Now, if I tried to get a chair, Ichii would notice and stop me immediately. He took his self-appointed older brother duties far too seriously and _apparently_ climbing on furniture violated some areas surrounding my safety. But then again, with Zero gone, Ichii was the only other person left in the house and with the state he was in, I couldn't exactly ask him for help- it would only do him more damage, after all.

Which left only one viable solution.

I'd have to try to get it myself, by climbing onto the counter.

I managed to do so without too much trouble, aside from some potentially heart-stopping wobbling, that is. Even though I was kneeling, the pan was still above my head. Feeling pleased with my progress, I took less care while I grabbing it, which, in hindsight, was a bad idea.

I overbalanced.

And screamed.

The pan slipped from my hand, crashing down in a cacophony of bangs that almost deafened me. I desperately threw my weight forward and grasped the handle for a cupboard door. It flew open as I fell, and my hand was roughly yanked away from the smooth, polished wood so hard that a twinge of pain shot up my wrist. I tensed, expecting to slam into the ground with bone-snapping force. Instead, I landed on something that was hard, and firm, but moulded to the shape of my body and absorbed the majority of the impact.

Laboured breathing sounded next to my ear, and the strong, shaking arms that had wound themselves around me tightened even further, pulling me closer to Ichii's chest.

I knew it was him. Aside from being the only other soul present in the house, I could feel the intense heat radiating from his body. His forehead was resting lightly against my shoulder, and I flinched when he moved, but he merely pressed a light kiss on the top of my head. "Idiot." He scolded, eyes half-lidded as he recovered. "That kind of reckless idea is supposed to be reserved for Zero only. Anything can and will go wrong when you're doing something as foolish as that."

Still feeling slightly dazed, I blinked sedately up at him. "You're supposed to be resting." That appeared to be the only half-decent thing I could muster up. "What're you doing in here?"

"Being a concerned friend and catching you? Heroically, might I add. Or, my personal favourite, preventing you from splitting your head open. And dying. Which, I wouldn't have appreciated, in case you were wondering."

I collapsed into hysteria. I wasn't really sure whether it was Ichii's words, his expression, or that near miss which caused it, but soon enough, Ichii's infectious laugh had joined my own. After what seemed like a life time, we quietened, and my eyes were drawn to the pan, lying upside down with a noticeable dent adorning the bottom.

 _That could have been my head._

"You could have called me." He said, looking down at his lap. "If I can get from the doorway to here fast enough to catch you, then I'm sure I could manage the oh-so-challenging task of collecting a goddamn saucepan."

"I'll keep that in mind next time I try to coddle you too much." He gently ground his knuckles against my head. I didn't complain. My head could have been in a whole lot more pain if he hadn't have been there. "Thank you, Ichii."

"It's no trouble at all."

He managed to pull himself up, and stagger back to the couch, all but collapsing into the plush cushions. I tucked the blanket around his body, and perched on the arm, tucking my knees up close and sighing contently. He was fussing, and tossing, unable to find comfortable position. "Sleep," I encouraged, in a soft voice. Cracking one eye open, he looked pitiful, and his flushed cheeks reminded me of just how badly his illness must be effecting him.

Sliding down next to him, I allowed my hand to settle on his head, and gently ran my fingers through his unruly locks. The action appeared to soothe him. He shifted slightly so his head was resting in my lap and closed his eyes. "That feels good." I could feel his deep, contended sigh reverberating throughout his entire body. Silence prevailed for a lengthy moment. "I have to stay awake," He mumbled, so quietly I wasn't even certain whether he had spoken. "I always thought it was weird how long I've gone without having nightmares but, all of a sudden, here they are, and they won't stop. I know that if I sleep, I'll just have to endure it again. And I can't, not any more."

My expression dropped as I rubbed a lock of his russet hair between my thumb and forefinger. "It's alright, Ichii. It's just a dream, it can't hurt you."

His eyes opened, pools of ochre that melted in the golden rays of the afternoon sun. His silently shook his head, and exhaled heavily. "It's not just a dream. What really bothers me is that half of it is a memory. Remember when I told you about how me and Zero met? About how... my issues put both him, myself, and Sarasa in danger?" I nodded mutely, unable to form an intelligent response. He smiled wryly, and averted his eyes. "It was that day. That moment. Only, instead of Sarasa... It's you. And this time, no matter how hard I try, I can't break free of those restraints... Honestly, I'm not sure what hurts more; hearing your agonising screams, or seeing Zero's look of utter betrayal when he realises I can't save you."

"Don't say that. You're a lot stronger than you were back then. Even I can tell, and I haven't even known you a year."

"That strength apparently doesn't equate to much, if I still can't tell the difference between dreams and reality." His shoulders sagged, and the change in his expression twisted like a knife in my gut. "I'm sorry for attacking you earlier. All I could see was-" He stopped short, and shook his head, biting down hard on his lower lip to dispel the mental image that had formed. "... I just had to protect you, but I wasn't. _I_ was the one causing you pain... " His face twisted in a grimace. "Sometimes I'm not too sure whether I've changed at all."

I cupped my hands on either side of his face, and forced him to look at me. "Don't." I said, in a stern voice. "You're always telling me that instead of being negative, I should think more optimistically and actually _try_ before giving up. That I should have faith in myself and believe in my own abilities, so the same applies to you. Have confidence in yourself, Ichii. Believe in yourself. You changed for a reason, didn't you? You grow stronger each day to work towards your own personal goal. With that strength, you can protect those that precious to you. Focus on that goal, no matter how small it is, and never let your resolve waver." I smiled softly. "But, you know, I'll always be right here for you. You've taught me that depending on people for a change can be a good thing, because they can help you to grow in ways you can't even imagine."

"You've changed, too." It was a short, decisive statement. "Have you realised it yet? You've grown great lengths since we first met. You're not the same Hikari as before- you're stronger, you're braver, too. And much wiser."

My smile turned devilish. "Is that you're roundabout way of saying I'm right?"

He was smiling now, a weak, fragile movement that made my heart leap to protect it. "I suppose it is." His eyes closed in contentment as I gently twirled a russet lock around my finger. "Hey... I'm glad you're alright, Hikari. I really don't know what I'd do if you ever got hurt."

"The same goes for you and Zero. You're so important to me, even if I don't always say it."

I felt him relax considerably. "You don't need to go to so much effort. After all, it's pointless, I can read you like a book. You don't _have_ to say anything if I can already see it."

* * *

When I woke up, it was to the sound of plates clattering in the kitchen, and an alien smell that was remarkably alluring. Ichii was the first to stir, and his yawning and stretching made me mumble softly, and burrow closer to his warmth. His fingers carefully threading through my hair enticed me to crack one eye open just a slit, and shoot him a drowsy, utterly peaceful smile. It hadn't quite occurred to me that we'd previously been curled up on the couch together, sound asleep.

"Hey," I greeted, lazily rubbing the sleep from my eyes and stifling a giggle when Ichii's stomach rumbled noisily. "What's cooking?"

"Pizza." Hiro said, arms crossed and grinning devilishly, silhouetted in the doorway by the dying afternoon light. "And if you don't get up, I won't save you any." Pizza was apparently as magical a lure as cute animals, because I was on my feet in less than twenty seconds, while next to me, Ichii shook his head to flop his hair into a half decent I-don't-care style that actually suited him pretty well.

Yawning, my brain had finally caught up with my body and pieced the puzzle together. I did a double take. "Hiro! When did you get here?"

"A while ago." Hiro's eyes twinkled. "The girl's said they'd stop by later, in case you were wondering. They seemed pretty worried about you at school."

I crossed my arms, and raised a challenging eyebrow.

"Not a satisfactory answer?" He guessed, grandly leading the way into the kitchen, sauntering about as if he owned the place. "I ran into Zero on his way to the supermarket." He nodded towards the bags piled up on the counter. "I'd already brought some medicine, and had been intending to visit, so it wasn't much trouble to help him shop." The aforementioned bluenette was sitting crossed legged on the counter top, a slice of cheesy pizza hanging out of his mouth, expression incredibly sheepish.

"Surprise?" He offered, around a mouthful. I crinkled my nose in disgust, and he swallowed appropriately before continuing, eyes averted to his feet as he extended a still steaming slice to me. "Hiro mentioned how you'd always wanted to try some."

I accepted, and happily chomped down. Ichii commandeered himself some, and tucked in with just as much vigour. "Sorry for being so snippy earlier."

He shook his head, looking rueful. "I was being annoying, I guess. It's fine." At my uncertain expression, he ruffled my hair. "Quit pulling that face, Shrimp. I said it's fine, didn't I?"

"Yeah."

I smiled, brightly and teasingly nudged him with my shoulder as he went to mess with my hair again. When my mother arrived home from work, with Kei and Ayumi in tow, they found all four of us piled together on the couch watching a movie, me squished between Hiro and Zero, and a half-asleep Ichii leaning heavily against the arm. In a normal household, this situation would have probably raised many questions. But I was proud to say that we weren't the conventional family.

Instead, all three of them merely seized the remaining slices, and my mother plunked herself in the far corner. She would have squished Hiro if the boy hadn't squirmed enough to sprawl me across Zero and Ichii. Giggling, I adjusted myself accordingly, tucking my legs neatly across all three of them, while Kei and Ayumi pouted, stole the pillows and made themselves a little den on the floor, smirking victoriously when Tabby joined them.

All of us jostling together, laughing freely and teasing each other, intently watching the movie at some points, and at others engaging in heated popcorn fights made my heart swell with warmth. This was my family, and I wouldn't change them for the world. They may all not be related to me by blood, but that didn't matter. The people in your life that want you in theirs, that unconditionally care about you and your happiness, that seek to protect you, and love you with all their hearts- they are your real family. And in my opinion, the bonds we had forged surely were worth far more than the simple ties that a mere liquid carried. They are my family, and I love every single one of them.

Ichii's breath was tickling my neck. I could hear his heart sedately beating in his chest, and the way he absently played with a lock of my hair spread warmth through my skin.

Smiling contently, I allowed my eyes to slide closed.

I really was blessed to have a family as great as this.

* * *

 **A/N: That concludes my twenty third chapter of Hikari's Tale. Whoa! It feels so weird that I've been writing this story for over a year now. I'm sad that it'll soon be ending.** **It would really help me a lot if I could get some feedback on this, to know how I can and improve or what people like is really helpful!**

 **Guest: Your reaction was the highlight of my day! Thank you for reading it, and I'm happy that you enjoyed that last chapter.**

 **James Birdsong: I'm glad you liked them!**


	24. Until The Day Arrives, Part 1

In my usual routine, I clumped downstairs, pulling my raven locks into what I deemed to be a presentable ponytail, as I retrieved the marker from the counter and crossed the day off the calender in thick red ink. My eyes strayed to the dreaded date, highlighted by several neat circles and I paused, lightly gnawing on my lower lip as I contemplated. _It's almost Christmas. It feels as though time has flown by so fast, too fast, almost. When I first swallowed the pearl, I couldn't wait for it all to end, I thought that the days couldn't go any slower, but now I wish that time could just stop. Usually I love this time of year, full of cheer and excitement... But now, I don't want even another second to pass because, with every day that ends, Christmas draws nearer._

 _When Christmas comes... the exam will be over._ Eyes closing, I sighed dejectedly and allowed my forehead to rest against the cool plaster of the wall. _And Zero and Ichii will leave. I suppose everything will return to normal after that. But maybe I'm used so used to the chaos that... I don't want normal any more._

A light tapping on the back of my head had me forcing a cheerful smile that felt disjointed, awkward and terribly, terribly fake. It was my mother, looking windswept and frantic, with the collar of her shirt sticking up and the right side of her jacket sleeve slipping off her shoulder.

"Have you seen my keys? I can't find them anywhere."

"Didn't you hang them on the hook? That's what it's there for, you know."

She smiled ruefully. "I know, I know. I suppose I just forgot, again. In my defence, they're just so small and easy to lose."

"This is the second time in three days." Sighing with mild exasperation, I gently rapped her on the head with my knuckles. "You need to remember these things."

"I'll take better care of them, I promise."

"You said that last time."

"But this time I actually mean it."

Good-naturally rolling my eyes, I pulled open the nearest draw and rifled through the useless clutter of discarded paperwork, pulling the keys out from where they were half concealed inside a faded brown envelope and jingling them to attract my mother's attention. Instantly her head whipped up from where she was hunting along the counter, and an unbearably smug smirk pulled at my lips as I shook them again. She breathed an obvious sigh of relief as I dropped the keys into her hand.

"What would you do without me?" I teased.

She chuckled and lovingly ruffled my hair on her way out. "Oh!" With a start, she paused in the doorway. "Could you take out the trash for me?"

"Sure."

She disappeared out through the doorway.

Shaking my head minutely at the colossal amount of noise she was making above my head, I knotted the bag at the top, hauled it out and juggled it awkwardly as I made my way out of the house towards the bins. Ichii, who had been gently blowing on his clasped hands, blinked owlishly and kicked off the wall, lifting the lid for me. Exhaling, I casually tossed the bag inside and swept a few stray locks away from my face to shoot him a grateful smile.

"Hey," He greeted, his cheeks flushed pink from the cold. "Fancy meeting you here."

I couldn't help but grin in return, watching the vapour from my breath swirl in the gap between us. "This a surprise. Aren't you cold?"

He shook his head, shaggy hair bouncing as he did so.

His hair, I noticed, had grown considerably longer than when I first met him, falling in a cheerfully tousled style that suited him remarkably well. Unlike Zero, it didn't seem as though he could be bothered with going to all the trouble of getting it cut. Then again, he could just be waiting for the end of the exam, that way he wouldn't have to worry about bailing halfway through to protect my worthless life.

"You monster!" I exclaimed, in mock horror. "It's freezing!"

He shrugged nonchalantly. "Granted, this coat is pretty thick, but I feel warm. If I had to think about it, I suppose some gloves would be nice. What, don't you like this weather?"

"Well I wouldn't say that, I do like it a lot, actually. Only... I like it a lot more when I'm _inside."_ I shivered. His expression tightened with concern. "Speaking of inside, why aren't you in there?"

Ichii's mouth closed with a quick snap. His ochre orbs seemed to dance with amusement as he steadied himself, the barest hint of a grin tugging at his lips as he spoke. "Hikari... Are you still in your pyjamas?"

Eyes widening, I quickly assessed my attire. A deep scarlet flush rose to my cheeks and I angled my head away, lip already jutting out in a pout. "So what if I am?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest with a loud huff. I could see him failing to hide his smile as he shrugged his coat off. "A-Anyway, that's beside the point! I'm more concerned about you. Something happened, right? Between you and Zero? That's why you're out here all alone."

"Perceptive, as always. But we're not fighting, if that's what you're getting at, so you don't need to worry."

"Then what is it?" I pressed, stubbornly.

He snorted and tweaked my nose. I cried out in protest and batted his hands away, sending him a mock scowl from my defensive position. "Why don't you go inside and see for yourself?" I stared at him with trepidation, brows furrowing intently as he dumped the coat over my shoulders, which felt deliciously warm from his body heat. "Not going to?" He asked, cheekily.

I narrowed my eyes in challenge. "Tch. Of course I am. I bet I can handle it." I declared, wriggling my hands through the sleeves, before marching into the house with the coat swishing around my knees and Ichii following some distance behind, cackling to himself in a way that was rather unnerving, yet I didn't let it bother me too much.

Ichii was barely a step in the door before my mother was pouncing a hug on him. "Ichii! It's so great to see you again." Clearly startled, he managed to emit a disgruntled noise and awkwardly patted her back once, before she released him and breezed past, chattering a mile a minute.

"You're going to be late~" I sang.

"Don't remind me!" She exclaimed, all but running into the kitchen to retrieve her bag.

I stood in the doorway, hands resting lightly on my hips as I studied her critically. "Phone?" She dug it out of her back pocket. I frowned and waggled my finger admonishingly. "How many times do I have to tell you? You have to keep things were they can't be grabbed easily. Now, keys?" She held them up as evidence. "Wallet?" Sighing, she rummaged inside her bag and waved it lightly. I smiled and relaxed, kissing her on the cheek. "Have fun, and stay safe, okay?"

"Sure, _mum_." She teased, blowing me an air-kiss which I theatrically slapped over my heart as she blew through the door.

I waited exactly three seconds before taking the stairs two at a time and entering the boy's unit without knocking. It took an extra second for me to realise that that may potentially have been an absolutely terrible idea, considering the previous incident in which I did exactly the same thing- much to the embarrassment of all parties involved- but thankfully luck was on my side today and my intrusion didn't reveal a half-naked Zero.

Raising a single eyebrow in a thin arch, I switched a curious gaze to Ichii, who was leaning against the door frame with far too much nonchalance.

"Go ahead," He encouraged, slyly. "You said you could handle it."

Narrowing my eyes, I rolled up the baggy sleeves in a quick, deliberate motion, stuck my tongue out at him, and flounced on.

A clattering in a nearby room caught my attention. Zura, seemingly fleeing for his life, almost slammed into my face in his haste to escape. "Zura!" I greeted, enthusiastically. "I haven't seen you around lately." The seahorse laid eyes upon Ichii, gave a startled shriek and promptly retreated into the bedroom. Frowning, I clocked the brunette, who had the most positively angelic look of innocence one could possess. "Hey, what was that all about? He seemed scared of you."

"It's nothing." I raised an eyebrow. He coughed awkwardly. "I hate spiders. The panic attack I had on finding my desk full of rubber ones sent Zero into full-blown locate-and-destroy mode and Zura into hiding for a week. He's still avoiding me now. I suppose he's expecting me to take revenge, but I know it was just a little prank and that he didn't know, and anyway, Zero's already extracted it on my behalf. Having to taste-test one of his kitchen disasters is the cruellest form of punishment I can imagine."

"Ouch. I almost feel sorry for him."

Ichii chuckled sheepishly. "For Zero, there are lines that shouldn't be crossed. _Ever._ Spiders are one of them."

 _Zero can be exceptionally sweet sometimes. I'm going to miss that..._

Ichii's big brown eyes blinked from their position, two inches from my face. I'd been so zoned out, I had even noticed him get closer. "Is something wrong? You're not chickening out on me, are you?"

I gave him a small glare and rectified the distance between us. "Of course not! Don't you doubt me!" I silently pushed open the door to the room Zura had vacated and quickly discovered why.

Hell must have froze over, because Zero was _cooking._

"God help us." I whispered, utterly horrified.

In that moment I would have been more than happy to leave the country, taking care to evacuate the entire street beforehand. Unfortunately, luck was not on my side any more. Zero whipped around from his task of rummaging through the cupboards, a proud grin adoring his features. Guiltily, I straightened up sharply as he waved, though I didn't have the energy to return the gesture. He must have caught sight of my pained expression, however, for he tilted his head in confusion and regarded me rather warily.

"Hikari, are you alright? You're looking a little pale. Why are you wearing Ichii's coat? Please don't tell me that you're sick, we had enough trouble dealing with that stubborn mule."

Silently, I raised my hand and pointed directly behind him. "Zero... Your pan- it's on fire."

The flames danced up and licked the cabinets above. Zero's eyes comically widened to the size of saucepans. "That's not supposed to happen... Is it?"

I shrugged as casually as I could manage and ever so helpfully supplied, "You're the cook, so you tell me."

Hands shaking, he grabbed the recipe book and flipped through the pages rather frantically, a manic gleam in his eyes. "Damn useless book!" He cursed, throwing it down in despair. "Where's the part where it tells you when a fire is alright and _when it is about to devour your kitchen?"_

Thankfully, both myself and Ichii were present to lend a helping hand. Ichii arguably took the easiest job and began to deal with the acrid smoke that was systematically worming its way throughout their little unit, while I switched off the cooker, nudged the pan off the hob and swiftly doused the flames with a couple of quick pats with a handy tea towel, successfully keeping a panicked Zero a reasonable distance away, in case he somehow managed to increase the severity of the situation.

Honestly, I expected worse.

Nothing was utterly irreparable and we'd prevented the kitchen from being razed to the ground.

The brunette returned, arms crossed over his chest, scolding glare in place. Zero was sitting crossed-legged on the floor, lip jutting out in a pout, arms folded neatly, looking every part the sulking five-year-old. "What were you doing?"

"Cooking."

"Why?"

"Because I can." Zero huffed. "Look, it's not even that bad, so don't get in my face."

I chanced a peek at the charred remains in the pan and winced.

"You call almost burning down our kitchen _not even that bad_?"

The younger boy scowled further. "Well... We can fix everything this time! And it's not like Hikari got hurt-" Flushing, he trailed off and looked away.

Ichii adopted a voice he usually reserved for children. "That doesn't mean anything. What would have happened if we hadn't have been here?" Picking at his sleeve, Zero mumbled something unintelligible. "You know I didn't hear that, Zero. Speak up."

"... I just wanted to make you pancakes." The boy said, in a plaintive little voice that melted my heart.

Ichii pinched the bridge of his nose and risked a glance in my direction. I fixed him with a pleading expression that caused his shoulders to slump in defeat. "Clean it up, okay?"

The bluenette nodded wearily, his bones cracking as he stood up and stretched his arms up high over his head. Alarm flashed brightly in his eyes as I coughed violently, the acrid smoke painfully tickling the back of my throat. "Hey... I can handle this. It's annoying when you hover, so go watch a movie or something."

Ichii blinked once and after a second of prolonged eye-contact with the younger boy, nodded softly. Gently grasping my upper arm, Ichii steered me back to my own room. Sometimes, it surprised me with how fine-tuned they were to each other; the fact that they could have a conversations solely with their eyes only empathised that.

While I pushed the window open, Ichii smothered a yawn with the back of his hand.

Fresh air swept in, lifting a few stray locks from my ponytail, bringing with it the sweet scent of flowers. Kicking my feet back, I landed heavily on my bed, hitting my kneecaps against the frame with a resounding thump.

"That sounded like it hurt. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Ichii. I do it all the time." Stubborn, and reasonably embarrassed, I flipped onto my front, burying my face into the mattress. It actually hurt quite a bit, but there was no chance I was letting him know that. When I peeked up, Ichii was several paces away, leaning against my desk, his eyes closed. Cocking my head, I switched to my back and studied him intently. His orbs slid open, almost as if in reflex to my intense staring.

"Hikari?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You're tired." I keenly observed. "Didn't get much sleep last night, then?"

Evidently drained, he hooked his foot around the chair leg, effortlessly yanking it to face him. All but collapsing down on the seat, he released a heavy sigh. "You're worse than Zero."

"He noticed?"

Ichii's fingers idly combed through his russet hair. As he spoke, he absent-mindedly rubbed a lock between his thumb and forefinger. "Of course he did. Why else do you think he'd try to cook for me?"

I sat up and shrugged Ichii's jacket off, promptly draping it over the bedpost. "Fair point."

From somewhere outside, a melodic song passed between chirruping birds.

"You're too quiet," He mused, voice low and velvety smooth. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing in particular." I easily deflected, gracefully rolling myself up in a stray blanket. He chuckled, and the pillow lying against the desk landed solidly on my head.

"You're wondering why I couldn't sleep, aren't you?"

"I am. How'd you figure it out?"

Ichii considered this for a moment. "I'm not the only one that's easy to read."

Pouting, I craned my head back to look him in the eyes, caving at his expectant expression. "Alright, alright, I give. I was just thinking that it's unusual for you to be this tired, even with all the trouble you normally have falling asleep. What made tonight any different?"

After careful deliberation, he shrugged shallowly. "I suppose I just got distracted."

"Distracted." I repeated, frowning lightly. "You got distracted... By what?"

He hesitated and allowed his head to fall back against the chair. "I'm not exactly sure."

I hummed quietly in acknowledgement. There was hardly any point in pushing him. Ichii was stubborn and could close up tighter than a clam when he wanted to.

"Hey, Ichii?"

Suddenly tentative, I gnawed on my lower lip and squeezed my eyes tightly shut.

"Yes?" At my lack of response, he perked up in his seat. "Is something wrong?"

 _Don't be selfish!_ "No... It's nothing. Don't worry about it." I was thrown a couple of inches into the air as Ichii flopped down next to me. I rolled onto my side, tossing an arm out to rest my head on, the blanket unfurling itself. "I see you're making yourself at home."

He lazily cracked one eye open and grinned. "What did you expect? It's much more comfortable here."

Hoping he was too distracted to notice my slightly flushed cheeks, I quickly returned to lying on my back.

He settled down much like Tabby does, burrowing into the pile of blankets and curling his legs up underneath him, sighing contently once he was finished, his head resting firmly on my stomach. I blinked down at the boy, mildly confused, wondering whether this was action was some intentional ploy in a masterminded plan, but the steady rise and fall of his chest signalled that he was already fast asleep.

Smiling tenderly, I slowly began to comb my fingers through his hair. Ichii mumbled sweetly in his sleep and nudged closer to my hand. "You need to take better care of yourself, Ichii." I murmured, sweeping some stray locks away from his eyes. "It's almost Christmas, you know. Soon you'll have to leave and I won't be a part of your life any more. You won't be able to rest like this for much longer. Promise you'll make sure to get enough sleep after you go."

Something deep inside of me shattered as Ichii, oblivious in his sleep, made no appropriate reply.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Ichii stirred. I registered the shift in pressure from my stomach to my chest and raised my book. He'd flipped awkwardly in a loose state, somewhere between the realm of sleep and consciousness, so that his face was now close enough to mine for our breath to intermingle between us.

I smiled, gently playing with his hair.

His ochre orbs blinked open, wincing from the sharp glare on the sun. I shielded him with the bulk of my book and he mumbled gratitudes, becoming more alert with every passing second. Soon, he was propping himself up on his elbows, leaning somewhat over me with an adorably bleary expression. "I did it again?"

With no room to nod, I simply smiled. "You did." I confirmed. "Lie down, I call tell you're still sleepy."

"Sorry about that," He said, conceding and stretching out next to me. "It must be bothersome. How many times have I done this, now?"

"Too many to count." I rolled over, jabbing him in the side with my finger when he didn't acknowledge me. "I don't mind. Honestly, Ichii, I don't," Flushing red, I angled my head away from him. "I actually kind of like it. You look so peaceful, it's... Ah, actually... Never mind."

When I glanced back, Ichii was staring at me. "What?" I asked, perturbed. "Is there something on my face?"

He shook his head, eyes narrowed somewhat. "No, it's just... You've never been good at hiding your emotions. But right now, I can't tell what you're thinking."

"Cute. Are you worried about me, Ichii?" I asked, teasingly.

"I am. Someone has to, after all. You're always too busy thinking about others, you forget to worry about yourself." He replied, so earnestly that I was shocked into silence. Then, he laughed awkwardly and tugged at his shirt collar, while we both stubbornly refused to meet each other's eyes. "That sounded a whole lot better in my head." He admitted, quietly.

"I bet it did." I agreed, lightly.

He hummed under his breath, staring resolutely at the ceiling. "What are you thinking right now?"

I stretched my arms out above me, purposely prolonging my response. "That I should make some pancakes for Zero. He's probably sulking right now."

Ichii sat up, casting a shadow over me. "Do you have the ingredients?" I nodded. He smiled and flipped his hair away from his eyes. "Then, I'll help."

"Someone's eager." I commented, as he gently pulled me up to my feet.

"Quiet, you. I haven't eaten today."

Ichii paused at the top of the stairs as I wagged my finger admonishingly, the other hand planted firmly on my hip. "That's really bad for you, Ichii."

He held up his hands in defence. "I know, I know. Don't worry, I won't make a habit out of it."

I relented and we clattered down and entered the kitchen. Tabby didn't greet us, so I assumed she was exploring outside.

The help that Ichii offered earlier mainly consisted of him retrieving things from the high shelves, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Mostly, he was content to lean against the counter and watch me diligently working through half-lidded ochre orbs. One thing I could soundly say was to never get distracted while whisking melted butter into the mixture. I noticed the misty, dazed look in Ichii's eyes and almost dropped the entire bowl in surprise.

I swiftly finished the task and cautiously waved a hand over his face.

Ichii didn't even flinch.

"Ichii?" My voice was soft, tentative as I took another step closer. "Ichii! Are you okay? Can you hear me?"

Pouting, I closed the distance between us, my head thumping solidly against his chest. Ichii, startled at the contact, was instantly alert. He was awkward and terribly uncertain, still confused from shaking himself out of his daydream, but quickly he melted against me, his strong arms returning the gesture and giving me a big squeeze in return.

"Is there a special reason for the sudden hug attack?" He asked, reasonably amused.

I tightened my arms and nuzzled my head further into his embrace. "You scared me, idiot. Your eyes were all glazed over and everything. Don't... Don't do that again."

"Noted." He murmured back, lightly tucking a lock of hair behind my ear. Having a significant height advantage, despite my recent bursts of growth, Ichii looked over my head at the bowls. "Shouldn't we go back to cooking?"

"Probably," I agreed, though I didn't move. "The batter isn't going to mix itself."

"I'll do it," He offered, smiling warmly and ruffling my hair.

My lip jutted out in a small pout as I put my back to him and attempted to fix the mess he created. I froze when familiar arms wrapped around me from behind. Ichii's head was resting on my shoulder. The aforementioned difference in height had my feet leaving the floor. Although I was reasonably comfortable with the action, I still couldn't keep the high-pitched squeak out of my voice. "I-Ichii?"

Maybe it was the realisation that the action was a little too sudden, that he was a little too fast or he was squeezing me a little too tight, but something in my voice had him gently setting me down on the floor and backing away.

He coughed awkwardly and averted his eyes to the side. "Sorry."

I locked my arms around myself, stepping out of his way, tentative and shy all over again. "It's okay."

"Can you get me a drink?"

It was completely silent, except for the sound of Ichii mixing the batter. He seemed extremely determined not to look anywhere but the bowl, so, sighing, I filled up an empty glass with tap water and thumped it down next to him. The entire time I was standing there, he didn't acknowledge me, but the moment I moved away he glanced minutely at the glass, visibly hesitated, before continuing to mix. "Thanks."

I puffed my cheeks out, trying not to feel too irritated.

 _Why is he ignoring me?_

I was just about to demand exactly that, before I stopped myself and closed my mouth with a quick snap.

"Hikari? Speak to me." Unbeknownst to Ichii, I was so startled by the suddenness of his voice, I almost knocked the flour off the counter. "I can't do this any more. I won't pretend like everything is okay." He'd abandoned the bowl and was facing me, his expression betraying his air of calm with underlying concern. "Something's been eating at you for days- don't think I haven't noticed. I know you and I can tell when something is bothering you. Please, speak to me. I can help you, you know that, right?"

 _He can't help me this time._

 _He can't know._

 _It's selfish._

 _I can't tell him._

 _I can't tell him that I don't want him to leave. That I want him and Zero to stay._

 _I can't do that. Because they have dreams they need to achieve. Because it's not fair to them!_

 _I can't._

 _I won't._

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine!" He seemed so distressed, it was breaking my heart. "You're obviously not fine, Hikari. Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not!" I exclaimed, stubbornly turning away from him. "If I'm lying, then what about you? If you think something is wrong with me, then maybe you should take a look at yourself, Ichii! You've been acting weird for days with no explanation."

"That's beside the point. And you're avoiding my questions!"

"I don't have to defend myself against you." I yelled.

"Neither do I!" He pinched the bridge of his nose, taking deep, calming breaths. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to shout. But, honestly Hikari, don't lie to me. What's wrong?"

"I'm not lying. Seriously, Ichii, I'm fine. It's nothing, you don't need to worry about me." His hand was on my shoulder, I shrugged it off, still keeping my back to him "Ichii, I'm fine! I've just been feeling a little sick lately but I didn't want to tell you because I knew this was how you'd react. It's nothing! I said I'm okay, so will you please just drop it?"

He didn't believe me.

Just a simple glance was enough to know that much.

It wasn't just my words that were clues, but my whole demeanour, the fact that I'd raised my voice, the fact that I was visibly irritated.

The fire in his eyes that matched the smoulder in my own promised that this wasn't over.

He exhaled, loudly, shoulders slumping in defeat. I released the breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

We returned to the task at hand.

Neither of us spoke the entire time.

Once it was complete and we'd presented a plate to Zero, laden with pancakes, he ate it, smiling the whole time.

Maybe if both myself and Ichii hadn't been so focused on avoiding each other's gazes, we would have noticed how strained that smile really was.

* * *

 **A/N: First of all, I am so, so sorry for this chapter being so late. I hadn't realised that I hadn't updated this story for so long. Two months! That's ridiculous! I've been writing this chapter _forever_ but I decided to put it on hold in exchange for revising for mocks all the way back at the start of November, but then little things were getting in the way and stopping me from completing it. Originally, I'd planned to have this out by Christmas, but I was ill for a while and didn't get it done in time. Instead, it's my New Years Eve/ New Years Day present.**

 **I've completely edited Chapter 10 and will be going on to edit the Jealously Arc. Reading through Chapter 10 made me realise how fundamentally impractical it was. After changing it, I'm much more satisfied with the flow of things.**

 **Secondly, thank you so much for those of you that have reviewed, followed and favourited this story. I really appreciate your support!**

 **It would be great to hear some feedback on this chapter. Constructive criticism is always welcome.**

 **Hopefully, the next chapter will be out much sooner. Thank you for reading!**


	25. Until The Day Arrives, Part 2

The curtains swayed languidly in the wan, albeit frequent breeze. The somewhat noisy swishing was doing a perfect job of preventing me from my rather valiant endeavour to once again fall asleep.

Feeling a heavy weight settling in the pit of my stomach, I curled up in a ball, bringing my knees in close to my chest, my arms automatically locking around them in a gentle embrace. Sighing softly, I pulled the blankets up and over my head, plunging my world into a pathetic attempt at darkness. My feet, sticking out from beneath my man-made haven, were slowly being chilled by the bitter breeze.

The usual birdsong that I was so accustomed to hearing was not the first thing that had greeted me that morning. Instead, I woke to silence and a room so inky black, that for all I knew, I could have been swimming inside the stomach of the most vile demon to exist.

I allowed my eyes to slide closed, choosing to focus my attention on the steady rise and fall of my chest, instead of the numb feeling dwelling somewhere deep inside me.

The rhythmic motion was sharp and constant, just like the tapping of Ayumi's pen had been yesterday morning. We were ignoring Kei's comatose state, delusional mumbles and all, quite successfully, when Ayumi perked up, leaned heavily on my desk and whispered secretly; _Who are you going to spend Christmas Eve with,_ like it was a legitimate question. There aren't quite enough words at my disposal to adequately answer something like that. But, really, my response should have been obvious from the beginning. Christmas Eve was a time that I would spend with my family. _All of them_. Honestly, I'd rather sit alone in my room the entire day than pick favourites.

Nerves still not appeased, I distracted myself with the careful tensing and relaxing of my toes, allowing the soft material covering my mattress to sink between them.

It worked.

For a little while, at least.

Eventually, reality drew me back into it's deathly clutches. I knew it was pointless, it wasn't as though I could remain here all day. I was pushing my luck as it is. But I so desperately wanted to prolong the inevitable, I couldn't bare to go another second forcing myself to pretend like everything was okay. There was only so much that my measly superglue could do to disguise the cracks in my paper thin facade.

Which, I suppose, was the whole reason that Hiro had dragged me aside into a secluded corner, eyes shinning with concern as he assessed my wealth-fare. The brunette was incredibly observant; a massive downside when I was perfectly comfortable with destroying my mental state by hoarding all my feelings. He wasn't even convinced when I'd managed to find the words to assure him, and instead patted my head and said in a soft, incredibly sweet voice that I knew where to find him if I ever needed someone to talk to, flashing me a kind smile before salmoning back into the crowd, at which point both Ichii and Zero had reached my side.

I exhaled again, feeling the movement reverberate throughout my entire body.

 _Had I really been that obvious?_

The closet door shifted.

I stiffened and hurriedly squeezed my eyes shut once again.

It was Zero.

Obviously it was Zero.

Both boys were perfectly discrete when surveying my room for other occupants, however Ichii had the more courteous habit of actually knocking once asserting it was just me, unlike Zero who waltzed right in as if he owned the place.

A vein throbbed in my temple as he flopped down on the edge of the bed, with cheerful disregard to both my sprawled limbs, which remained artfully tangled in my blankets, and the fact that I was trying to sleep.

"I know you're awake," He said, sounding thoroughly amused.

Reluctantly, I slowly cracked my one eye open. "What gave me away?"

"Please," He scoffed. "As if Ichii's the only one that ever falls asleep on people."

My cheeks burned scarlet. "That's not what I asked."

"Technically, it is." He replied, cheekily, before softening. "It was your breathing. Ichii always wears himself out, he switches off like a light all of the time. It's annoying, really, he can be so troublesome sometimes. But... I worry. If he's asleep I can tell when something's wrong just by the pattern of his breathing. And it's the same with you."

I was almost completely certain that my eyebrows had disappeared into my hairline. "That's pretty impressive."

Zero's cheeks flushed and he awkwardly scratched his head, though he was visibly beaming from the praise. "You don't think it's weird?"

"Not especially." I said, with an offhand shrug. "It'd probably hypocritical of me if I did since I memorised a lot of factors to tell you and Ichii apart without looking."

Zero absently stretched his arms, considering this in calm silence. I tried not to notice the way his muscles flexed when he did that. Curse him and his tank tops. It was almost as if he was doing it on purpose, just to spite me.

"Why are you here?" I asked, rather more bluntly than I intended.

His eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You're not beating around the bush today, are you?" My blank look had a small smirk tugging at his lips. "I'll skip to the point then, shall I?"

"That would be nice."

"You and Ichii are fighting. Why?"

My head snapped upright. I mentally berated myself and took to straightening out the blankets in order to compose myself. "We're not fighting," I responded, in a breezy voice that was far stronger than I felt. "Why would you say that?"

Lightening flashed in his now narrowed, electric blue eyes; it was irritatingly captivating. "Of course, how stupid of me. You're not fighting," He amended, carelessly brushing imaginary lint from his shorts as he stood. "So you'll obviously not have a problem with going out jogging with him in, _let's see-_ " He stole a deliberate glance at my beside clock, a Cheshire Cat grin adorning his features "Ten minutes? You're fine with that, right, Hikari?"

It was a struggle to keep my face from morphing into an ugly scowl. I merely nodded, not trusting myself to speak, achieving a sort of seasick look as I smothered the anger bubbling in my stomach.

" _Excellent,"_ Zero eagerly clapped his hands together. "I'll go tell him."

If looks could kill, Zero would have been reduced to a pile of ash on my bedroom floor. Unfortunately, real life didn't work that way and Zero smugly strode out, giving me an incredibly cocky salute as he disappeared into his unit.

I wanted more than anything to scream into my pillow but I dragged myself up to get dressed and forced down a breakfast that I had no appetite for.

Sullenly, I returned to my room, hoping to slip in and grab a warm jacket without having to confront either boy.

I froze, my fingers just centimetres from the handle, and slowly pressed my ear against the door. Faint cursing was emanating from inside. After throwing a furtive glance over my shoulder, I burst into my room. Contrary to what I expected, there was no immediate damage, other than to that of Ichii's pride. Bare-chested and noticeably flustered, Ichii flinched and clocked me with wide, guilty eyes, visibly relaxing from his defensive position as he fully processed that I was unaccompanied.

I raised a thin eyebrow. "Why are you soaking wet?"

Obviously that was the main priority.

Ichii gave a deep sigh. "Zero."

 _Of course._

"Is he also the reason you're not wearing a shirt?" I tried to sound nonchalant, but I had to fight to keep myself from blushing.

"Somewhat."

Evidently, Ichii wasn't made of steel. He shifted uncomfortably, and subconsciously crossed his arms over his chest. I took pity on the poor boy and tossed him a blanket which he gratefully draped across his exposed skin in a toga-like fashion.

"You look like the dead." I blurted, a shocked hand flying to my mouth immediately after.

It was true, though. Rocking extreme bed hair with his skin pale and eyes heavy with sleep, it was the only appropriate way to describe him.

The brunette shrugged, absently using his fingers to tame one of the more prominent tangles in his russet locks."I feel like it. I was asleep until five minutes ago, if that helps. Zero dumped water on my head and threw me out here when I wouldn't get up. _Totally uncalled for, by the way_." Ichii hissed the last part, narrowing his eyes dangerously at the closet door.

"Ah," Realisation dawned on me. "He jammed the door shut?"

Ichii nodded sourly, while I struggled to smother my mirth. A strange, muffled snort escaped my lips, causing Ichii to whip his head up, evidently alarmed. He flushed and angled his body away, pouting like a child as I collapsed into a bout of uncontrollable laughter. "It's not funny!" Ichii's mild irritation couldn't last long and very quickly he was chuckling too.

"Alright, Zero. I think Ichii's suffered enough," The door cracked open ever so slightly and Zero studied us intently, eyes narrowed in thought. "At least let him put some clothes on." I badgered, making a point to keep my eyes averted as Ichii dropped the blanket and ducked inside the room the second that Zero stepped aside.

The bluenette was the picture of innocence. He didn't even falter under my scolding gaze. "What?"

"Was that really necessary?"

"Seriously?" Zero's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. He crossed his arms over his chest, rocking back on his heels while I battled my confusion. "Did it bother you or something?"

"Well, of course it did! He's supposed to be your friend. Why would you make him that uncomfortable?"

"He's supposed to be _my_ friend?" Zero echoed, stonily. "That's an interesting choice of words there, Hikari. Surely _you_ consider him as a friend, too. So wouldn't that make him _our_ friend?" I floundered, already spluttering defences but Zero merely raised his hand, silencing me. "Why should you even care, anyway? You two have been avoiding each other for days-"

Frustrated, I stamped my foot childishly. "I already told you, we're not fighting! And I haven't been avoiding him!"

Zero clicked his tongue, his jaw subtly clenching. "You two are as bad as each other. Whatever the hell is going on, sort it out. I'm sick and tired of dancing around trying to do the work for you."

He closed the door silently behind him. Despite his temper, Zero wasn't stupid enough to made a huge racket with my mother still present in the house.

Scowling, I shrugged the jacket on and left, muttering darkly under my breath as I laced up my trainers. I'd just finished when there was a cautious knock at the door. Kicking off the bottom step, the visitor turned out to be a reasonably bewildered Ichii, his hair noticeably more tamed than before but still fairly damp.

"You want to jog in this weather?"

"Do you?" I shot back, with more venom than I intended.

"Not particularly," Ichii admitted, commandeering the band from my wrist, despite my protests, and carefully collecting my raven locks into his hand. "But it doesn't look like we have a choice." I mumbled in agreement, as he secured my hair in a loose ponytail.

"Ready?" I asked, unenthusiastically.

Ichii nodded shortly.

We jogged in complete silence for a good ten minutes. Thankfully, it wasn't as awkward as I initially thought it would be. Ichii still avoided my gaze, though that could have been due to our earlier encounter, instead of the strange animosity that had sparked between us.

I, for one, was content with the lack of conversation. The silence was calm, comforting, almost. A welcomed break from the whirlwind raging inside my brain. I was angry, more at myself than anything, and maybe just a little bit confused, too. Zero and Ichii were leaving soon. Nothing I could say or do could change that. Part of me didn't _want_ to change that, because I felt so incredibly selfish. Selfish because both Zero and Ichii were not here for me, they never intended to befriend me, the only reason we had met was because of the bane of my existence- the Sorcery Exam. They had a dream that they were willing to do anything to accomplish and to do that, they would have to leave. Their home wasn't here, it wasn't with me- it was back in their own world, with their own family. It wasn't right for me to steal them away from that. And what part of our relationship entitled me to dictate what they could or could not do based on my own feelings, anyway? Especially after only knowing them for half a damn year.

Hiding all my selfishness was enough to make me explode, let alone adding my self-imposed isolation from them. They were going to leave soon, so I wouldn't allow myself to become any closer with them. If they were just going to disappear from my life in a matter of days, then what would be the point of causing myself more heartbreak? Maybe it would be better to be how I was before. To put my walls back up. To push everyone out and only allow a sliver of emotion for the most determined, stubborn two girls I had ever known to exist. If I never made any meaningful relationships, then I would never have to worry about losing them. If I closed myself off and became more like a spectator in my own life, then I would never be hurt. I would never have to experience that intense, agonising pain from the gaping hole in my heart that my father left with anyone else ever again.

It would be so, so much simpler that way.

"Hikari."

But deep down, after all the chaos of the last six months or so, I couldn't bare to be lonely again. And every single time I spotted that troubled expression flit across Ichii's face, or the subtle clenching of Zero hands, the way that muscle would jump in his jaw and the worry that would flash intensely in his eyes, I felt awful all over again, because I was causing them so much pain just because I didn't want to hurt any more.

There were moments where I just wanted to break down. To apologise and spend the last remaining days as happily as I could. I wanted them to leave having good memories of the time we spent together. But I just couldn't bring myself to do it, knowing that I would only self-destruct later. I would regret it, I knew that much. It may take years to do so, but I would. Only, keeping my distance was the only form of self-preservation that I had left at my disposal. It was the only thing that was keeping me going.

"Hikari."

All the while, I was trapped in a spiralling pit that just seemed to get worse the further down I fell. Soon, I was certain I'd never be able to climb back out of it.

"Hikari!"

I released a startled cry as a hand snapped over my upper arm and roughly yanked me back. I slammed into Ichii's chest, just as a car barrelled through the space I had been previously occupying, blasting the horn loud enough to deafen us.

Wide-eyed, I stared blankly ahead as Ichii wheeled me around to face him, crouching down to my level, face pale and pinched with worry. His hands ran up my arms, as though checking if I was all there, in one piece, then up my throat until they came to rest on either side of my face.

"Are you alright?"

Numbly, I nodded.

He relaxed, but only slightly, and pulled me into a tight hug. "God, don't ever do that to me again."

My hands remained by my side. My muscles were stiff and tense, still frozen solid with fear. I pressed my forehead against his shoulder and carefully controlled my breathing, while he murmured a constant stream of reassurances against my ear, his hand gently stroking my hair.

We went straight home.

Ichii held my hand the entire way. I wasn't too sure whether it was to just reassure me, or whether he was making absolutely sure that I wasn't planning on doing something like that again.

Neither of us told Zero.

It didn't matter though, it was only a matter of time before he realised something was amiss. At first, Zero seemed insufferably smug upon noticing that the strange atmosphere between both myself and the brunette had been toned down somewhat.

Maybe it was the way that Ichii was sitting so close our shoulders brushed, or the worrying crease between his brows. Maybe it was the haunted look in his eyes, the way my hands couldn't stop shaking, or the blankness of my expression. It could have been any of those things and more. But, very quickly, he realised that something was incredibly wrong. Instead of pressing us, as I expected him to, Zero fell into an troubled, but thoughtful silence, occasionally shooting glances in our direction, the muscles in his jaw tense as steel cables.

We barely spoke for the rest of the day. I mostly napped, sometimes curling up on Ichii's lap- which seemed to appease his relentless anxiety for a short amount of time- or by cocooning myself in enough blankets to bury me for years.

I hardly ate at all. That tiny breakfast had seemed so long ago, and light snacks weren't enough to keep me going. Failing to muster up the energy to go downstairs, I feigned illness. I didn't even touch the soup my mother brought up, while Zero and Ichii artfully hid themselves in the closet. I felt drained, lifeless almost, and it wasn't particularly pleasant.

Both boys were content to lounge about. Ichii had been with me the entire time, so I was never surprised when I rose from dozing to find his fingers absently running through my hair, only half concentrating on the book in his hand, but at one point I'd tossed fitfully, semi-conscious, to find Zero on my other side, knees tucked up close to his chest, sleeping peacefully. It was a relief to see him finally looking relaxed.

When night settled, they returned to their own little unit while I stared up at the ceiling, exhausted, but unable to sleep. I remained there for an awfully long period of time, feeling hot and irritated, constantly tossing and tugging at the blankets that would snap tightly around my legs. Eventually, I grew weary of my struggle and lay still, listening intently to the occasional clatter against my window pane.

"I'm thirsty." I whispered, blinking sedately into the inky blankness. "I'm thirsty." I repeated, with more strength, warily eyeing my bedroom door.

I slipped out of bed, cautiously approaching the closet. "I'm thirsty," I reminded myself, edging a step closer. "That's all."

But that wasn't it. That wasn't it at all.

 _I'm lonely,_ I thought. _I can't take this any more. I want to fix it. I've had enough of making them worry about me._

Hesitantly, I allowed the tips of my fingers to brush against the smooth wood.

 _I-_

"We're going to have to leave her soon, aren't we, Ichii?"

"...Yeah."

My world came crashing down.

* * *

The classroom was empty when I returned from taking out the trash. Classroom duty was normally allocated to more than one person, however it was my luck that one classmate was off sick and the other flat-out ditched me. Usually, I would be pretty annoyed about something like this, but for once, I was glad. It meant that I didn't have to force myself to smile for another person.

I collected my bag, head too heavy to realise that it was my first time walking anywhere alone for quite a while.

Checking the time, I quickened my pace into a springy jog and exited the building. Hopefully, they wouldn't mind me being a couple of minutes late.

"Hikari!"

Zero and Ichii were leaning against the gate, hands raised in greeting. Zura peeked out from the hoodie that the bluenette had donned and waved enthusiastically.

I slowed to a stop, somewhat confused. "You guys waited for me?"

"Of course we did." Ichii smiled, ruffling my hair. It felt terribly fake, like he was trying to pretend everything was okay when it so obviously wasn't.

Zero tipped his head, suspicious. "Why wouldn't we?"

I raised my shoulders in a half hearted shrug before turning sharply on my heels. "Well, I'm sorry for wasting your time but I've already got something planned with Kei and Ayumi."

"Cool," Zero said, with an easy-going smile. "Let's go then. We don't want to be late!"

"Actually, I..." Shifting my weight awkwardly, I scuffed my shoe against the ground. "I want to go by myself."

I felt absolutely awful at the wounded look of confusion that flashed across Zero's previously cheerful face. He blinked and took a deep breath, his arms crossing over his chest almost like he was putting a barrier between us. "Oh," The pain was evident in his voice. "Right. Whatever, I don't care. Do what you want."

I should have apologised.

I didn't, though.

I stalked away, and every step tore me apart from the inside.

Kei and Ayumi instantly realised something was wrong once I finally reached the cake shop. "Where are Zero and Ichii?" I was so zoned out, I wasn't entirely sure who had asked. Instead, I hastily sat down, choosing to look at the menu rather than reply, despite the fact that I always ordered exactly the same thing.

"Hikari, are you alright?" Kei. It was Kei who spoke this time. I stared at her mouth, watching he lips move, forming words that, for all I knew, could have been an entirely different language. It took several painful seconds for me to register what she was saying, in which their concern only grew.

"I'm fine." They didn't seem too assured. "How have you been?" I asked, anxious to break the silence.

We chatted for a while.

I ordered Strawberry Shortcake, as usual. Ayumi grinned and teased me about my height and suddenly everything was okay and we were laughing and for the first time in days I was _happy._ And it felt great. I let everything go. I laughed more than I had in that measly hour than I had in an entire week. Both of my friends noticed the change, how I almost seemed to glow- the dull eyes I had met them with completely forgotten. For once, something was actually going _right._ I wanted it to last forever.

It didn't, of course.

Eventually, we finished our cake, still smiling giddily.

Together, we headed home; Ayumi with her arm slug around my shoulders, enthusiastically pointing things out and gesticulating so wildly it was a miracle she hadn't managed to KO one of us yet, and Kei faithfully walking alongside, close enough to share sideways glances and inconspicuous eye rolls.

I'd missed this.

I'd missed this all much more than I could've ever imagined.

 _I really am just a dumb little kid._

 _I keep denying myself of the things I want... Being selfish... Making everyone worry about me... How long have I been pretending that I've got everything together? All this time I've been trying to isolate myself; the kicker is, that's the one thing I'm most afraid of. Being alone and staying that way for the rest of my life. For so long I've stumbled around with my fingers crossed, hoping the universe wouldn't notice... I bet it was just sitting back and laughing at me this whole time._

I chucked lightly, stretching an arm up and feeling my back pop pleasantly.

… _Man, I'm such a mess._

"Hikari?" Kei's soft expression seemed to be inviting me to open up my heart.

"I'm fine." I assured and this time I actually meant it.

Ayumi gave me a little squeeze and life went on.

We reached the crossroads and parted, Ayumi, true to her energetic nature, gave an enthusiastic salute right before they disappeared around the corner. Feeling a soft smile grace my lips, I headed towards my own house with a cheerful bounce to my step.

"Zero... Ichii?" I halted, surveying the boys (and Zura, who was perched comfortably on Ichii's shoulder) with a confused tilt of my head. "You guys... Have you been waiting for me this whole time?"

"Of course." Ichii said, still smiling just as sweetly as he had earlier.

"We can't let you get attacked again, now, can we?" Zero, the precious little bluenette, seemed so tentative and unsure, with his little lopsided smile that tugged at my heartstrings, I just wanted to squeeze him and never let him go. "Hey, we're sorry for making you run around with us all the time, I know it must be really annoying for you..."

 _What are they saying?_

"There's only one week left, so just try to be patient with us until then, okay?"

Slowly, my smile disappeared from my face.

 _Do they think... that I don't want to be with them?_

"When the test is over we'll go back home to the Magic World and then you won't have to hang out with us any longer."

I bit down hard on my lower lip and dug my nails into the fleshy part of my palm. My entire body was shaking. It was a surprise that neither of them had noticed yet.

 _That I... hate them?_

"I understand that it must be bothersome for you, so we'll stay out of your way as much as we can. Soon, you won't have to worry about anything of this, I'm sure that'll be a- Hikari? Hikari!" Ichii broke off abruptly, concern flashing in his eyes.

Zero sparked into motion and fleetingly tugged on my arm. "Are you... crying?"

I wrenched my limb free and quickened my pace into a sprint, swallowing down the thick lump that rose in my throat.

I lost Zero reasonably swiftly. He was faster and had more stamina, but I'd played dirty and gave him the slip in one of the many back alleys. Now I found myself crumpled against a garden wall in a surprisingly familiar neighbourhood, face pressed against my knees, shivering from the biting chill of Winter wind.

A gentle hand brushing against my shoulder had me reluctantly raising my head. A boy with a shocking mess of brown hair and the brightest green eyes to exist greeted me with a slight curve of soft lips. My eyes darted to the name plate on the wall.

Hanari.

 _Of course._

Hiro happily sank down next to me. He easily looped his arm around me, and my head fell against his chest. There was something so incredibly soothing about the way he stroked his fingers through my hair and the soft rhythm of his breathing. "Do you wanna talk about it?" I didn't think I could bring myself to speak. "It's alright," He breathed, planting a gentle kiss on the top of my head. "I'm not going to force you."

He was incredibly warm, I realised, and nuzzled further into his embrace, fisting my hand into his shirt. "You've changed a lot over these past six months." Hiro stated, like on would state a fact. To him, he believed it as much as he believed that the Earth rotated around the Sun. "I guess I've got Zero and Ichii to thank for that. They did a lot more than I ever could. Because of them, you've grown so strong and I couldn't be more proud of you. But being strong doesn't mean that you always have to be okay. Your feelings are valid, you know?"

"I'm not upset." I managed tightly.

"I know," He agreed, far more easily than I thought he would. "You're just hurting. And you've been hurting for a long time now." He pinched my cheek between his thumb and forefinger, giving it a brief squeeze. "It's okay. It's okay to be in pain, to be upset or to cry. Nobody expects you to be happy all of the time. I'm not going anywhere, so just let it all out."

I couldn't get my breath. The pain in my heart seemed to be smothering me, as if every heart beat might be my last. I made a sound- I wasn't sure whether it was anger or anguish. The tears fell thick and fast, welling up in my eyes and trailing relentlessly down my cheeks in hot streams. The cause of my episode wasn't entirely the conversation I had just fled from. I suppose it was mostly just my way of releasing all the emotions I had been bottling up for a good month or two.

They were little things. They always little things at first. But then it would build up and up, and before I knew it, everything would spiral out of control.

That's just how I was. It was almost as though I liked to make myself suffer.

Eventually, I stopped. I was tired of crying and wallowing around in misery. I was sore and felt utterly to blame for everything, but at least I wasn't alone. Hiro, just like he promised, had remained by my side, simply holding me while I broke down. His hands were warm against my skin, fingers expertly wiping away the wet streaks from my cheeks.

"Are you okay now?"

I nodded firmly. "Thank you for putting up with me."

"You think I'd stay here if I thought it was a waste of time?" He lifted my gaze up again, to meet his blazing eyes. "I love you," He said, tenderly, affection pouring from every inch of his body. "You're like the little sister I never had. And I will _always_ be there for you; I'm sick of letting other people do it first."

"Someone's showing their possessive side." I teased, lightly nudging him with my shoulder.

He chuckled and ruffled my hair. "Damn right I am." After patting my head, he carefully pulled me to my feet. I was aching all over, but I didn't mind. "Are you coming in? We can have a movie marathon."

While I desperately longed for some kind of normalcy, now wasn't the time. Reluctantly, I shook my head. "Rain check. I can't right now, I have something important I need to do." Hiro made a small noise of understanding. "Next Sunday...?"

The brunette smirked and tipped his head. "Friday."

"Friday." I echoed, biting back a smile.

I was almost at the end of the street when I heard Hiro's distinctive voice calling after me. "Oi! If they upset you, I'll beat them up!" I stifled my giggles and shot him a thumbs up. Hiro was never one for violence, but I appreciated his words nonetheless.

For quite a while I wandered helplessly around, searching for Zero and Ichii. Unfortunately, both their cells had gone straight to voicemail and they weren't waiting back at my house, as I had first anticipated. Eventually, I spotted the distinctive blue locks disappearing from my line of sight and instantly cupped my hands around my mouth, yelling "ZERO!" at the top of my lungs.

He immediately stopped dead in his tracks, frozen still like a statue.

I reached him in seconds, my legs screaming from being pumped across the ground.

Contrary to what I expected, he wasn't absolutely furious with me. In fact, he looked incredibly relieved to see me standing there, panting softly, glowing brighter than I had before. I pressed my finger to his lips before he even had the chance to speak. Zero appeared to be thoroughly amused by this. So did Ichii, after he recovered from his initial shock. Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen him double back for the bluenette and almost laughed aloud at his stunned reaction.

"I love you." I declared, staring dead into his electric blue orbs. Zero blushed brighter than humanely possible. "You guys are two of my best friends. I _cherish_ every single moment we spend together, you hear? I don't ever want you guys to feel like you're bothering me ever again. Honest to God, I'd swallow this pearl a thousand times over if the alternative meant never meeting you! Everything's been all messed up because I didn't want you to leave. I didn't want to tell you. I tried to hide it, to pretend everything was okay, but you saw how well that turned out. I'm okay now, though. I'm going to miss spending time with you, but I can handle it because I'm so proud of you and I know you'll do great things! And it's not like I'll lose you completely. I mean... we'll stay in touch, won't we?"

Ichii smiled, bright and warm, and opened his mouth to reply.

Right as crushing force landed directly on my back and slammed me into the ground.

Things were about to get a whole lot more intense.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow. Okay, I really need to stay on top of things, don't I? I apologise for this chapter being late, as you can see I'm struggling to keep to the 2-week deadline I'd set way back when I first started this story. Unfortunately, I still haven't edited the Jealousy Arc, however I'm quite happy with my previous edit of Chapter 10.**

 **This update was reasonably hard to write. I'm still concerned about it, I hope that Hikari won't be seen as whiny or for everything be dull and boring. It's the main reason why I took so long to post it, I guess.**

 **Breebreebabygirl: I'm really glad you liked it! I'll try my best to keep my chapters up to the same standard.**

 **James Birdsong: Thank you! I hope you like this one, too.**

 **Le Nouveau Moi: I really tried to take on your suggestion, so I hope you can see a difference. In my earlier chapters I noticed that I do tent to shower all these flowing descriptions, so I totally understand what you mean. I'm glad you enjoyed that! And Zero is just so precious, I love writing him, even if he is one of the most difficult. I'm glad you noticed that! I absolutely hated having to refer to him as the "Blue-haired boy" all the time, compared to Ichii's "Brunette". That was my solution~ I hope you liked this chapter just as much!**


	26. Time to Say Goodbye? Part 1

Zero had the boy up by his collar before I could even blink, smoke rising from his knuckles, the barest hint of flames creeping across his skin. I recoiled at the sight, briefly terrified, desperate to pat them out before they burnt him. Ichii, not looking the least bit surprised by the fact that _fire_ was climbing up Zero's wrists, merely rolled his eyes and nonchalantly nudged the bluenette's shoulder, who immediately waved away the embers, reluctantly releasing his grip on the strange boy.

I spat dirt out onto the ground and hurriedly wiped my mouth, shaken but relatively unharmed. Aside from the nasty bruise that would certainly have blossomed across my back in the morning, that is.

The boy, mechanically rubbing the back of his head, showed no semblance of emotion. "I messed up... my landing..." Blinking sedately at me, he lowered his head in a measured little bow. "I'm sorry."

"Huh? O-Oh! I'm sorry, too." Somewhat started, I copied his action, before snapping to my senses. "I mean... Who... Who are you?"

"My name is Rill," I flinched as he moved, cupped my cheek with his hand and studying me as though I were a fairly interesting Maths problem. "I came to... help you."

"Hands off, man!" Zero smacked Rill's hand away, forcing his way between us. Rill merely tilted his head at the action, only mildly confused. "Why are you really here?" The bluenette demanded, while Ichii lifted me to my feet and gently guided me a couple of steps away. "Are you new examinee? If so, I won't let you lay a finger on Hikari!" His fists clenched, black plumes snaking out, hastily extinguished after a sharp look from Ichii.

The crow that had previous been watching the scene, barely interested, squawked indignantly at that, flapped her wings and perched herself on Rill's shoulder. "What's with you kids? You have no manners."

"Here," Rill cautiously dipped his hand down the neck of his robes- Ichii recoiled, insistently tugging me behind him like he was fully convinced the strange boy would suddenly pull out a machine gun and start mowing us down- obviously that wasn't the case, as he instead lifted a chain over his head, opening his fist to reveal a small bottle delicately hanging from the silver. The brunette seemed suitably shamed by his extreme reaction as he allowed himself to relax somewhat. "This... is a potion that will remove the Crystal Pearl from your body... I was told by the Exam Centre to deliver it to you."

Beaming, I collected the bottle in my palm, staring at it in wonder. "This is great! I don't have to run for my life any more!"

"That's good..." I smiled gratefully at the boy, his turquoise hair ruffled by the breeze. "Now you can say goodbye to the examinees."

My heart dropped to my stomach.

 _Say... Goodbye?_

I threw a glance over my shoulder, towards Zero and Ichii, both boys intense, tension coiled in their bodies like a spring. They were prepared to jump in should anything happen. Prepared to go to any lengths to protect me. I allowed the bottle to roll across my hand, slowly curling my fingers around the cool glass casing.

 _He's right..._

 _Once the Pearl is out, Zero and Ichii won't need to protect me._

 _There's no reason for us to stay together._

"What's taking so long?" I blinked, focusing on the crow as she impatiently shifted her wings. "Hurry up and drink it!"

"R-Right-"

With a triumphant cry, it was roughly snatched from my hands by a figure who emerged from the bushes. A low growl rose in Zero's throat, but- after a moment of hesitation, because he wasn't _that_ brave- Forte merely smirked, evidently amused by Zero's anger. "I heard everything. I bet Hikari would be in trouble without this potion." The blond boy took off running like a headless chicken, yelling over his shoulder, "If you want it back, give me the Crystal Pearl!" He tossed the bottle to San, who caught it easily and immediately summoned an army of miniature Step-Cats.

Rokka appeared, complete with her busty teenage form, as if by magic- which, all things considering, was probably likely- and planted her hands firmly on her hips. "What's gotten in to you?" That seemed to be directed at Ichii, who seemed fairly perplexed by the question. "You don't need to stay with her if she takes the potion, right? This is the perfect opportunity to separate you! I'll get it back, don't worry. Come on, Gou!"

Gou looked as if he would rather down an entire bottle of cyanide, but loyal as ever, obediently followed Rokka into the fray.

Zero clenched his fists, annoyed, but not uncontrollably so. "What the hell do they think they're doing?"

Ichii gave a bewildered little shrug and tipped his head skyward, cupping a lazy hand around his mouth. "Hey, Forte! You can keep it, we don't need that potion!" He grinned and playfully bumped his fist against Zero's as the younger boy caught on. "We've already decided to protect Hikari until the very end, so it doesn't really matter either way. We don't need to remove the Pearl. Right, Hikari?"

"Yeah," Warmth exploded in my chest. I smiled tentatively, eyes shining gratefully. "That's right."

Forte deflated, and pouted like a child, sulkily throwing the bottle at Rokka's snatching hands.

The crow, bristling, settled down three feet from us, where Ichii was teasingly ruffling my hair. "Come on, don't be do naïve about this. That magic exam will only get tougher! This is too dangerous for a human, you know that!" Zero immediately snapped his head around, glaring as if the crow had just insulted him on a spiritual level, but she merely directed her attention to me, deftly ignoring Zero's angry hissing. "You'll be in trouble if you don't take the potion."

The bluenette snorted contemptuously. "You don't know anything. She'll be just fine! Come on, Hikari, let's go home."

Zero practically dragged me away. I could feel the heat radiating from his hand, occasionally spiking, but never once causing me harm. I couldn't help but feel concerned at the spectacle I had witnessed earlier. Absently, the pad of my thumb traced Zero's skin with care; it was clear, unblemished by the flames I was certain had been there.

Gnawing thoughtfully on his lower lip, Ichii walked sedately alongside us, more distracted than I'd ever seen. Even so, he still managed to come to an abrupt halt at the road, shoes hanging off precariously off the curb. Apparently he was still taking his older brother duties _way_ too seriously, considering the fact that his right arm _shot_ out to block my path, even though I'd already stopped. I _suppose_ watching someone nearly get hit by a car is enough to put anyone on edge.

I patted his hand reassuringly, before Zero gave me an impatient little tug and we continued on, mostly in silence.

After we returned back to my house, we spent the remainder of the day lounging around, playing Monopoly, Zura enthusiastically cheering us on. Zero protested, at first. He'd crossed his arms and pouted childishly, declaring that he was still looking for his dignity from the last time we had played the game. The appearance of my infamous puppy-dog-eyes and a whole minute of begging later, he relented. This time around I was faring much better, to my utmost relief, however Ichii still lorded over us, the unstoppable dark horse that he was.

The dice slammed into the box, spinning wildly from Zero's roll, all three of us waiting with baited breath to see his fate, complete with Zura performing an over-dramatic drum roll- then the lights disappeared with a sharp _click,_ plunging the room into darkness.

"Well," Zero deadpanned. "This isn't good."

" _Please_ don't tell me it's another examinee." I said, wincing when one of the boys stumbled over my outstretched legs.

The curtains shifted microscopically and a heavy sigh sounded. "It's not just us. Looks like the power's out in the whole block."

"Damn it all," Zero whined, bones cracking as he crossed his legs underneath him. "This sucks! I was totally going to win this game as well." We humoured him, knowing full well that, despite his best efforts, Zero would be the first to go bankrupt. Insanely poor management of money and lack of any strategic planning generally resulted in failure. Too bad he could never learn.

Ichii separated the curtains, allowing a miniscule amount of light to flood the room.

"Whoa, it's so dark outside," I observed, a little astonished.

"Someone isn't ready to hear about night."

I stuck my tongue out at Zura, wisely choosing to ignore him. "It wasn't like that before, right?"

Zero considered this for a moment, using his phone to check the time, then slowly shook his head. "It's not _that_ late. Guess there's a storm coming or something."

Offering a small hum of acknowledgement, I used my phone screen to illuminate my immediate surroundings. It was just my poor luck that my phone was almost dead.

"Hikari, do you have any flashlights?"

"Um, yeah, we do. They should be in one of those cabinets."

Tabby began screeching from somewhere within the house. I pulled up a flashlight app and guided Zero safely to the door, which he opened and called for the frightened kitten in a parade ground bellow over the sound of tortured souls. Not one of his proudest moments, I assure you.

A couple of moments later, there was a resounding _thump_ , which silenced the playful banter between Zero, Zura and I. I figured, by Ichii's strangled cursing, that he must have rammed his toe into the couch like he had a year long family feud with it.

It seemed as though while I was busy helping Zero- who's unconventional tactic had somehow successfully led to Tabby locating us, the little kitten having skittering across the floor and immediately perched herself on her cat tower- Ichii had stumbled his way across the room directly into the path of the only piece of furniture obstructing his way.

The brunette, illuminated by a soft, flickering glow, was sprawled across the floor, hands clasped around his throbbing foot, moaning with the sheer agony that only stubbing your big toe can cause, fearing that he had shoved his toenail well and truly back where it had come from. The source of this unearthly light was reasonably unexpected. Nestled in the palm of Zero's hand was a small, wavering flame, occasionally crackling and spiking upwards.

Eyes widening wondrously, I eagerly leaned forward, completely forgetting the fact that Ichii was still rolling across the floor in pain, almost touching my nose against the fire. Zero seemed to be incredibly amused by my fascination, his iris' twinkling with laughter.

"Do you like it?" He asked, teasingly.

"It's so cool," I whispered, suitably awed. "I didn't know you could do this."

"Yeah, well, neither did I, until recently," Zero was beaming with pride as he allowed the flames to crawl over his fingers, weaving between his slender digits. "I've been practising like crazy for it to get this good- even set the curtains on fire. Accidentally!" He added hastily, in response to my disapproving expression.

"He wanted to _impress_ you." Zura crowed, smirking devilishly.

The bluenette went bright red, glaring venomously at the little seahorse who laughed giddily and zipped behind Ichii.

The brunette, having recovered, good naturally rolled his eyes at the seahorse's antics and settled comfortably down next to me, Tabby immediately bounding into his lap as he explained. "Zero's grown a lot stronger over these past couple of months and so has his flexibility with his magic. Destruction Magic is mostly flame-based, anyway, so summoning fire at will isn't much of a stretch, even if it took him a while to fully master his control over it."

"Impressive!"

Zero flushed and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, evidently not accustomed to praise. "Want to hold it?" He looked so endearingly hopeful that I swallowed my hesitation and slowly nodded. "It won't burn you, promise."

Despite his assurances, there was something decidedly insane about holding actual _fire._ I was appropriately terrified. But he grinned, carefully took my hand, transferring the fire to my palm with ease, flat-out laughing at my briefly horrified expression. Unlike what I'd expected, the flames weren't searing. They were gloriously warm and pleasantly tickled my skin, eliciting a giggle from me as it coiled up to my elbow, flaring there like a flickering arm warmer.

Since I was so obviously captivated with the flames crawling up my arm, Zero merely summoned another plume to rest on his hand, instead of commandeering the ones he entrusted me with. He remained as our own personal flashlight for the rest of the evening, even going as far as to sit up on the counter and light the kitchen as both I and Ichii pooled together enough junk food to kill a normal human. Considering all of this, it wasn't all too surprising that Zero was out like a light the moment that he curled up on the couch.

Ichii tutted playfully. "Such a child." He murmured, tenderly tucking a blanket around his best friend, while I propped myself up on my elbows, lazily sitting up in one of the futons I had set out. Burrowing himself into his own futon, Ichii folded his arms behind his head, sighing contently. "Hey, we're going to keep you safe." He declared, suddenly.

Blinking, I angled my head to the side, carefully arching an eyebrow. "Where's this coming from, Ichii?"

Becoming a little flustered, he absently twisted a lock of his hair around his finger. "Earlier, with Rill..."

"Oh, so that's it, huh?"

"I just wanted to make sure you knew... in case you were worrying about it..."

"Don't worry," I hummed, happily. "I'm not that fragile any more. I can handle this."

"That's true." Ichii hesitated, peeking up through his hair. "Are you really okay?"

I nodded once, firmly.

"I'm glad." He smiled, bright and warm. "We'll protect you, no matter what."

"I trust you."

* * *

The next day was the start of it all.

Rokka, being her usual rambunctious, Ichii-obsessed self, had bounced out of nowhere in particular and was currently being a pain in the ass- that was certainly how Zero would have described her if he had been present. Luckily for him, he'd chosen exactly the right moment to disappear, having headed to go buy some melon bread not even ten seconds before Rokka arrived.

I sorely wished I'd had the foresight to accompany him.

Of course, it was just my luck to have to endure the poisonous glares _brimming_ with murderous intent. Evidently, some deity enjoyed messing with me. Thankfully, Ichii was present to prevent the girl from acting on her most violent fantasies, otherwise I certainly wouldn't still be in one piece. The aforementioned pinkette was currently flirting with the ever patient Ichii, which I accepted grudgingly seeing as though it focused her attention on something other than her utter contempt for me, even if I had to sacrifice Ichii's sanity in the process.

Well, someone had to take one for the team and I was unfortunate enough to bear witness to this ungodly display, so it certainly wasn't going to be me.

Arms throw happily around his neck, Rokka gave Ichii an overzealous squeeze, the boy managing to mask his discomfort incredibly well for someone on the brink of suffocation. She was certainly heading for new angle here. While going full blow Yandere, strangling the poor boy and transporting his lifeless corpse to whichever hideout she had planned presumably seemed like a good idea in her head, transforming into a raving psychopath probably wasn't good for her mental health.

 _Probably._

The moment I noticed even the faintest flicker of pain cross his features, I took action. Noisily clearing my throat, I deliberately stepped a little closer than I usually would, impatiently tugging on the brunette's sleeve to attract both his and, more importantly, _Rokka's_ attention. The said girlreleased him and planted her hands firmly on her hips, glaring, a silent demand for me to back off. That sort of thing may have fazed me six months ago, but I was quite used to her temper tantrums by now. Instead, I observed her coolly, slowly arching a single brow.

She snorted disdainfully, switching loving eyes to the brunette. "I've got something nice for you, Ichii!" She declared, proudly, which piqued his interest somewhat. That was until she almost took his eye out thrusting the delicate bottle under his nose, invading practically every aspect inch of his personal space.

Recognition flashed in Ichii's mellow ochre orbs. He smiled, soft and sugar sweet, adopting the tone he always reserved for children. "That's very kind of you, Rokka, but I've already explain, haven't I? We don't need the potion."

She scowled, childishly stamping her foot. "Why? I have it right here!" Her head whipped to clock me, brows drawn intensely in thought. "This potion... It's the one the examiners made. You can remove the Pearl with this, right?" She demanded, snatching the front of my blouse. "Just hurry up and take it! Then you can break up with Ichii!"

Ichii pried her away as carefully as possible, swiftly swiping the potion, and handing the struggling girl to an exasperated Gou. She gave a furious half-shriek, lunging futilely towards me. Gou secured her by the scruff of her neck, looking as though he would much rather being doing _literally anything else_ with his time as he dragged the thrashing girl away.

Despite almost being swallowed by a multitude of my bewildered classmates, her lowly hissed parting words twisted like a knife in my gut. "Let me say this; you're bothering him, Hikari. It doesn't make any sense to refuse the potion, removing the Pearl will help him to protect you!" That really did hit rather too close to home. It wasn't as if I hadn't thought that already. I'd barely slept at all, anxious thoughts plaguing me well into the night, relentless in their assault, making me question even the most trivial of things.

Ichii's hand landed solidly on my head. Uncertainly, I peeked up at him through my hair, melting inside from the warm, sweet smile he presented me with. "Don't worry about it, Hikari. You're not bothering me at all. I want to stay with you." I flushed, eyes shining with gratitude. Ichii twirled the potion in his palm for a moment, before carelessly throwing the chain around his neck. "I'll hold on to this, okay?"

I nodded, only too happy to oblige.

My phone buzzed importantly, attracting my attention. Ichii cocked his head, reasonably amused, while I scanned the text. "Ayumi?" He asked, knowingly.

"Yeah. Thinks I'm bailing."

"You better get going, then. Go straight to the courtyard." I teasingly poked my tongue out at him. "Be careful." He added softly, having gently tugged me to a stop, electricity dancing from his palm making my heart almost skip a beat.

"I will," I promised, waving shyly.

And I was, for the most part.

Sure, I probably shouldn't have stopped to buy some grape juice from the vending machine. Sure, it was a bad idea to go the scenic route, even if I figured there would be more people than there actually were. Sure, I was a little bit of a naïve idiot, but I figured I would be okay. I wasn't, of course, but at least I knew that for future reference. Ah, who was I kidding? I'd definitely make the same mistake again. Possibly the very next day, in fact.

I almost roundhouse-kicked Rill into next week when he tumbled out from a nearby tree, scaring the absolute hell out of me in the process. The boy, stoic as ever, pouted just the smallest amount, his hand cupping his injury. Hesitantly, I kept my distance, still somewhat concerned for the dazed boy. "Ah... You're that guy from yesterday... What was your name again? Rill, w-wasn't it? What are you doing here?"

"I was napping in a tree... and fell."

The crow, Ruby, flapped her wings impatiently. "You still haven't taken the potion yet?" Now, she sounded more motherly, all tenderly concerned rather than bossy. "You should take it now. I told you, it's far too risky."

I gnawed down on my lower lip, anxiously twisting my hands.

Rill's head snapped up, focusing on something that I couldn't see. He stood, never shifting his gaze for a moment. "... Something cold is approaching," He announced, slowly manoeuvring his staff into a more manageable position. "Step back."

A blurry shape screamed through the air, striking Rill's staff and ricocheting off. A perfect sculpted crystal made of pure ice was embedded into the ground, three feet from our current position. My eyes widened in horror. Rill was immediately in front of me once more, coolly spinning the staff, deflecting three more crystals.

He deftly pointed the end at the tree line, crouched in a protective stance before me, looking calm and unfazed, silently challenging them to attack once more. In a flash, two figures had jumped out from the trees, over the fence and had disappeared.

"Examinees." Rill stated, answering my unspoken question. "They've found you."

"How... How did you know they were coming?"

Ruby, perched on his shoulder once more, looked a little self important. "Because Rill can see the future. He said you were going to take the potion, yesterday." I firmly shook my head, desperately not wishing to believe, protests rising on the tip of my tongue. "It's true," Ruby insisted. "Show her, Rill."

My denials were in vain. When Rill used his Future Spell: Illusion, sure enough, there I was taking the dreaded potion.

"Was that really the future?" I asked, in a small, sad voice. "Does that really happen? I really... take the potion?"

"You will take the potion..." Rill said, calmly. "Because that would be your solution..."

He gave my head a stoic little pat before leaving.

I stood, staring after him, confused and a little scared.

My phone buzzing once more was what finally brought me back to reality. Ayumi, again. I scooped up the juice cartoon from the floor, deftly brushing the dirt from it. Ayumi would kill me for desecrating her scared grape juice, even if the reason I'd dropped it had been shock.

When I finally arrived, Kei was taking a deep breath, her eyes squeezed shut, head tilted skywards. More than likely, she was requesting the strength necessary to make it through the day. I didn't blame her. Ayumi was kicking her feet impatiently, looking every bit a hyper five year old, making it very difficult to summon the willpower not to strangle her.

"Sorry I took so long!" Ayumi brightened up like a Christmas tree and made insistent grabbing motions at the juice, almost entirely ignoring my presence. I chuckled and handed it over, exchanging an eye roll with the exasperated Kei. Yeah, we were on our own. Juice took priority, that's just how it worked.

"You look out of breath." Kei noted, observant as ever, while Ayumi was busy devouring her juice. Evidently Ayumi figured nothing was of any real importance. Except her juice. That was worth more to her than most people's lives.

"I ran the whole way." Which was partly true. After that little scare with the examinees, I had sprinted away as fast as I could, acutely aware that I was an open target just milling around by myself.

The next several minutes consisted of me chatting with Kei, while Ayumi remained remarkably silent for once in her life. The blissful peace was abruptly ended once she finished her juice and switched the conversation to everyone's favourite subject; boys. Thankfully, Kei interrupted that train wreck fairly quickly, and we allowed her to obsess over a new game that was being released soon.

"It's all good gushing over it and everything, but how are you going to afford this game? It sounds like it'll be expensive." Ayumi, as ever, was the crusher of dreams.

Kei tipped her head up self importantly with a small huff. "I'm saving up for it." She faltered at our disbelieving expressions. "I really am this time! Gotta be extra careful not to be wasteful, but I'll do it this time."

"I remember this," Ayumi said, with a devilish grin.

"So do I." I agreed, nodding with mock thoughtfulness.

"She's said this before, hasn't she?" I hummed in acknowledgement, watching as a vein on Kei's temple throbbed. "Didn't it end in total disaster last time?"

"Don't mock me!" Kei lunged at Ayumi, pulling her into a headlock and grinding her knuckles against the top of her head while the girl writhed and squealed through her laughter. I called out a sharp warning, but it didn't put a stop to their antics, so I forcefully pushed myself between them, tutting disapprovingly.

"You two are such children." I admonished fondly, rolling my eyes.

"Like you aren't." Ayumi retorted, cheerfully.

"Says the one that gets excited over _juice."_

"Hey!" the girl protested, protectively. "Don't insult the juice." I poked my tongue out at her, brushing imaginary dirt off my skirt as I stood. "Where are you going?"

"Back inside," I replied, smiling. "It's too cold out here." My words were punctuated by an intense shiver, making us all laugh.

Kei's voice yelling after me stopped me dead in my tracks. "Hey, Hikari! Don't forget about Hiro's party!"

I flashed her a thumbs up, jogging to return to the warmth. Stamping heat back into my feet, I scaled the stairs, pausing to create some warmth in my hands.

"Hikari!" Ichii raised a slender hand, casually waving me over.

Zero lightly hit my upside the head when I'd reached them. While I whined, he crossed his arms with a loud huff. "Idiot," The bluenette scolded. "You took way longer than necessary. Remember, you've gotta stay close to us. Don't take any risks, okay?"

Pouting, I copied his gesture. "Fine, you're right-"

Zero's head snapped up, focusing on something just over my shoulder. My breath caught painfully in my throat.

The next thing I registered was a sickening weightlessness. Zero yanked my wrist, tugging me against him. He was warm and alive, heart thumping wildly against my cheek. His arms coiled around me in a protective embrace, one hand on the small of my back, gently guiding me against him. In a second, we were crouched, my face buried in Zero's chest, his hand tenderly tangled in my hair.

Sharp and loud, the sound of shattering glass reverberated off the walls.

Pandemonium erupted.

Other students scattered almost immediately, stumbling away, into each other and walls, tripping over their own feet in their haste to escape to a safe distance. Of course, only one was suicidal enough to run _towards_ the chaos. Hiro's hands clapped down on my shoulders, face pale and pinched with worry, lips moving to form hurried words that I couldn't hear.

I almost bashed heads with him as I stood, accidentally knocking Zero over.

Glass littered the floor around us.

Ichii, head cocked to the side, was staring out the broken window, mildly interested; his arm still raised from forming the invisible barrier. Hiro tenderly gripped my upper arms, insistently attracting my attention. Zero was brushing off imaginary dirt from his knees, a twinge of pain flitting across his features as he hit a sore spot. Hiro's hands were warm against my cheeks, firmly lifting my chin to meet his eyes. Again, Hiro spoke, but I couldn't understand anything.

Mumbling assurances, I shook free, blindly stumbling forward.

Ichii was gazing down at his palm.

Red.

The colour of passion, of deep sunsets in summer, of roses and love and life.

Of hate.

Of pain.

Of blood.

It smeared across his palm, trailing rivets down his arm, marring his delicate pallor with a unforgiving scarlet.

He looked at me, as if grievous bodily harm didn't warrant much concern, and managed to muster the same sweet smile as always. "Hikari! Are you injured?" I took his wrist in my shaking hands, slowly drawing the appendage closer. "I guess I got a little hurt, huh?" He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Idiot." I said fondly, my voice cracking at the end. "What were you thinking?" He gave a helpless little shrug that melted my heart. "Let's get you all fixed up."

* * *

A flash of white in the corner of my eye stirred up my distant feelings of guilt.

Three days had passed, yet Ichii's hand was still swathed in bandages, the white material stretching all the way up to his wrist. While he wasn't particularly tanned, it was still a stark contrast to his skin tone, making it easy for me to spot in fleeting glances. Fairly deep as it may be, Ichii still didn't pay the wound as much heed as he probably should. Zero, on the other hand, was still noticeably furious. Yes, one of Ichii's closest friends may be plotting to kill someone for mildly inconveniencing him. No, neither he nor I could find it within ourselves to care.

The brunette, noticing the object of my attention, absently tugged on the material, his reassuring smile warming my insides.

 _I'm okay,_ he mouthed, his smile reaching his eyes, making them sparkle in the light. Happily, I hummed a quiet acknowledgement, inconspicuously bumping him with my hip. Faltering a step, his mouth twisted in surprise, but he recovered quickly and bumped me back, making me stumble to the side. The both of us suddenly dissolving into laughter, thoroughly bewildering Zero, who glanced between us with an expression that stated that he thought we were clearly insane.

"Hey, Zero, Ichii-"

Zero stiffened, his flowing gait becoming somewhat disjointed. Very slowly, he clocked Ichii, who's lips were pursed sharply together. "Ichii, you feel that?"

"Yeah," The boy agreed, grimly. "We're being followed." Instantly, I went to turn around. Ichii grabbed my hand, tugging me back and pointing up at the sky. "Look how cool that cloud is!" He exclaimed, voice brimming with excitement, while his expression looked completely and utterly done with life.

"Are you an idiot?" Zero hissed to me, making me flinch. "Act normally or they'll get suspicious." Then he rounded on Ichii. " _Clouds._ Really?"

"Shut up," the brunette snapped, with a little grin. "I don't see you coming up with anything better."

"Trust me, it wouldn't have bee hard."

"Two pairs." Ichii reported, over the top of Zero's endless scoldings. "There's at least two pairs behind us." He gnawed on his lower lip, eyes sliding closed in concentration. "It's not San and Forte. Or Gou and Rokka, for that matter; the magic feels much too different." His eyes bolted open. "Damn, watch out-"

Ichii tossed an arm across my body, summoning up a shield to block the crystals of ice that rained down on us. Just as Ichii predicated, four examinees touched down, glaring spitefully at the two boys at my side. Two girls, a boy, and what looked to be a strange wolf-hybrid sized us up.

"Zero, get Hikari out of here."

The bluenette's hand tangled with mine. Flames danced warning over his knuckles, spiking along his arms and spreading up mine when the strange male examinee threw his head back and crowed loudly. "Is this it? How pathetic, this won't even be a challenge."

Ichii threw a smoke bomb onto the ground.

Zero shot off like a bullet. I stumbled after him for the first couple of steps, but he was sweet and gently guided me, carefully easing me back into a collected run. Heat seared across my body. He swung around, firing off a few blasts of fire, pushing me behind him.

The smoke curled in dark tendrils, obscuring our vision.

Around us, the clamour of battle was loud and confusing.

My fingers tightened around Zero's hand. He squeezed reassuringly back, pulling me back two steps as a figure screamed through the space I had been just moments before. The boy, Tomi, wheeled around, about to spark off an attack. Ichii appeared from thin air, his spinning kick connecting solidly with the boy's chest and sending him flying.

Zero tackled the wolf as it went for my throat, teeth snapping just inches from my skin, commanding for me to run as he struggled to restrain it.

From somewhere behind me, Ichii gave a sharp cry of pain. Zero's voice rose in a curse twisted with fury as I struggled to navigate through the dense smoke.

A crystal slammed into the ground by my foot. Biting back a squeal, I changed direction, haring away as fast as I could, listening intently to the solid thuds from the ground a metre from my heels. Throwing myself to the ground, I barely managed to avoid the fire flaring over my head. It wasn't Zero's. His was always more precise and control, even when he was furious. It didn't look like his either. Zero's flames looked far more attractive than the ugly streak flickering out of existence.

Hurriedly scrambling back up to my feet, I ducked under something bright and sharp and continued running.

Spinning around a lamp post, I realised belatedly that I was heading back towards the boys just a moment before I smacked into Zero's chest.

He gripped my upper arms, eyes wide and intense, searching our surroundings before yanking me against his side, sprinting away from the sounds of battle. Tomi sprang out of nowhere, hitting the the bluenette with a precise attack that knocked him off balance for a couple of strides. I screamed, instantly swerving to avoid the grabbing hands but failing by a hair's width, struggling as I was forcefully wrenched from Zero's side.

Let's just say, the bluenette didn't take kindly to another guy putting his hands on me.

A blast of heat hit Tomi in the chest, sending him sprawling with enough force to fracture a normal person's skull as he slammed into the ground.

Heart thumping wildly in my chest, I made it one entire step before Zero had sprinted forward, throwing his arms out in front of me.

In sickeningly slow motion, I watched as a storm of crystals whizzed past, cutting into Zero's delicate skin. A high, terrified scream tore itself from my throat, wild and feral as he flinched, spitting blood onto the ground, his hand tightening around a crystal embedded in his thigh. The force of which he bit down on his lip had blood spurting out, but he didn't allow it to distract himself as he shot off a Magic Cannon, taking both female examinees down.

Ichii stumbled out of the smoke, wide eyes snapping to Zero's form as he crumpled. Acting as a crutch, the brunette helplessly supported the bleeding and battered Zero, who's head whipped around wildly, only stilling once he focused on me. "Hikari," He breathed, lips breaking out into a relieved smile. "Are you okay?"

Instantly, tears welled in my eyes. _How can he say that? He's beat up way worse than me!_

My throat constricted, swallowing the words I could barely muster.

 _It's all my fault._

 _Zero's hurt because of me._

 _He's hurt so badly._

 _And. It's. All. My. Fault._

Ichii faltered as the tears streaked red hot rivets down my cheeks.

 _I don't want to leave them... But I can't put them in danger any more!_

Chest heaving, I flew at Ichii so suddenly it startled him, quickly snatching the potion from around his neck and retreating back, tripping over my own legs in my haste and falling down. Eyes widening, Zero lunged uselessly to grab it back, to stop me, his expression pleading. He couldn't reach me, though. Ichii must have been holding him back.

I swallowed the liquid without interruption, and in a sudden flash of light, the Crystal Pearl burst from my chest, hovering in the space just before me. Closing my fist around it, I tossed the perfect little ball that had caused so much trouble over to Ichii, who caught it without hesitation.

"Get out of here!" I commanded. "Get somewhere safe! Please!"

It wasn't like he had any other choice. Cradling an injured Zero to his chest, Ichii did just that, the examinees flocking after him like a swarm of angry birds.

"This is... What's best for them..."

Even as I said those words, I felt my heart shatter into pieces.

* * *

 **A/N: Again, I apologise for the late update. I'm really struggling to stay on top of everything. I need to get my act together, I know.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter. There are parts that I found extremely difficult to write, as you can probably tell. If you find any mistakes or anything that you feel I can improve on, feel free to let me know, it would be a huge help.**


	27. Time to Say Goodbye? Part 2

The din of indistinct chatter reached my ears. Inside the classroom was as lively as ever, students rapt in all manner of conversations, laughing joyfully, some hunkered over their desk in a mad last minute rush to finish homework, others- like Kei- who didn't deal well with mornings were squeezing in a quick power nap before class began.

With all the bustle, I hoped that I wouldn't be noticed. I was small enough as it was, so it was usually quite easy for me to lose myself in a crowd.

Bowing my head low, I slipped inside, expertly weaving between desks and slumping low in my chair the moment that I reached it. I sat there, remarkably still, anxiously fisting my hands in my shirt, listening intently for any subtle change in my surroundings.

Blinking, I cocked my head.

Nothing had happened.

There wasn't even the slightest dip in the noise level.

Sure, we usually had to stop Zero from slamming the door open to announce our presence, but I wasn't even aware that people had become so accustomed to the general weirdness that followed us around that they wouldn't even question someone silently sneaking in.

Feeling as though I was somewhat safe, I risked a cautious glanced over my shoulder and almost immediately locked eyes with Hiro. From the befuddled expressions his friend's sported, he must have been staring at me from the exact moment that I entered the classroom. He didn't say a word, merely arced an eyebrow, looking calmly from myself to the door in silent confusion.

I honestly thought he was going to comment on my lack of company, which would surely draw the attention of the entire class, and frantically shook my head. He blinked, gave a miniscule nod and turned back to his companions, smiling apologetically.

Of course, my peace was only short-lived.

When roll call arrived and the class discovered that neither Zero nor Ichii were present, they rounded on me almost immediately, their demands and general bothersome questions clashing together in an incredibly tedious crescendo that made me want to open the window and put myself out of my misery.

Thankfully I decided it against it due to Kei's swift intervention. The resident demon crossed a slender leg, her lip curling with distaste. "Shut it, the lot of you. God, you're so annoying. Sit down and shut the hell up, you're wasting my time with your pathetic squabbling."

I was left alone after that, especially when my classmates became aware of Hiro's expression which promised death to the next person who bothered me, but I couldn't miss the curious glances that were constantly thrown in my direction.

I expected to be jumped the moment that the bell sounded.

However, an unexpected turn of events saved me.

Emiko, apparently panicked, jumped onto her chair and started screaming. That, of course, attracted a fair amount of attention. In the middle of her shouting to high heaven about there being a damn, awful sewer-dwelling rat crawling around and desecrating the classroom with its filthy paws, she shot Hiro an expectant look, lips flicking up at the corners in a small, secret smile.

Eyes widening with understanding, he snatched up not only his own bento box, but mine as well, and quickly guided me out of the classroom. We hunkered down on the roof for the remainder of the break and slipped back into the classroom without incident.

At the end of the day, I was escorted home by my three best-friends-turned-bodyguards.

Somehow, they seemed to sense that now wasn't the right time to talk, for they never once questioned the boys absence, merely continuing on as if nothing had happened at all.

I was sure of one thing, they were so much better than I deserved.

* * *

Two days later, much hadn't changed. The boys were still gone, everyone was still confused and Kei, Ayumi and Hiro all worked as a perfectly oiled machine to keep me from being swamped.

I'd escaped from the hell hole to lie underneath my favourite Sakura tree, tucked out of sight in a peaceful corner of the school, away from prying eyes.

Not many people ever ventured down there, so I assumed I wouldn't be disturbed.

A subtle shift in lighting had me cracking a single eye open.

The source was Hiro, his figure blocking the sun which I had been contently basking under, and after sighing heavily, he flopped down onto the grass next to me, folding his arms behind his head.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"Please," He scoffed, with endearingly forced arrogance. "As if I wouldn't. You're incredibly predictable."

Interested, I cocked my head. "How so?"

"You have three main hiding places, it's not difficult to know which one you'd chose."

"Is it now?"

He held up three fingers for emphasis, ticking off each one as he spoke. "The lockers are small, but easy for you to fit in. You crouch in one when you want to calm yourself down before being found. The girl's bathroom is an obvious choice. Zero and Ichii are guys, and no matter how cool or mature they are, they can be fairly unwilling to go in after you, so you only really go there when you specifically want the girls to follow you. As for here? This is the place you like to hide at. You only come here when you don't want to be found."

I accepted this deduction in calm silence, mentally mulling over his words. "You figured this all out on your own?"

"You can learn a lot by simply observing," He said, with an offhand shrug. "You should know that much."

"That I should." I allowed, fairly amused. Then, with more hesitance, "How long ago did you figure this all out?"

He smiled, a fleeting, fragile motion. "Long enough that I regret not ever trying to bridge the gap between us."

My gaze flicked up to the sky, shoulders slumping heavily. "I was the one that pushed you away in the first place."

"And I let you."

"Because I wanted you to... Look, don't beat yourself up about it, you're a good friend, Hiro-"

He shook his head, chuckling humourlessly. "No, I'm not. A good friend would have fought to stay. A good friend would've know that you were only lashing out because you were in pain." His fists had clenched into tight balls, the muscles up his sleeveless arms bulging from the pressure. "Kei and Ayumi are good friends. They're the ones that broke down the walls you were trying to build. They did what I couldn't do."

"But I'm the one at fault! I never even tried to listen to you, I was being selfish."

"You had a right to be! Your dad had just died." The flinch was small, subtle, but Hiro's ever observant gaze detected it. Regret flashed in his eyes and his demeanour softened. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be. I'm being pathetic."

"Your feelings aren't pathetic." He responded, firmly. "Never have been and never will."

"Neither are yours." He blinked, cautious. "Hiro... Do you still feel guilty? You came to visit me all those times, left me presents and even played music outside my door. I still never opened it for you. I didn't let you in. Do you regret listening to me when I told you to leave? "

His expression hardened, face screwing up with anger. "I didn't try hard enough. I was naïve, I didn't understand what you were going through. I made a stupid decision and I hate myself for it."

"You hate yourself? For walking away, even though I told you to? For the fact that it wasn't you, but Kei and Ayumi who found me on that swing and forced me to let go of all my grief; do you still feel feel guilty?"

"Yes," His voice was tight.

"But you shouldn't. It was my fault-"

"I'm a year older, I've know you longer than they have. Hell, I may have missed an entire year of my life, but your mum is the only reason I'm still alive. Over and over again you would care for me when my immune system made me sick and I couldn't even do a thing to make you feel better when our roles were reversed!"

"You had no obligation towards me-"

"But we were friends! That would've been enough to justify me doing anything I could to help you." His nails were pressing deep indents into his palm. My touch didn't seem to make the slightest difference in calming his self-directed rage. "Of course I feel guilty! It's the whole reason that I've avoided you up until recently. I didn't have the courage to face you. You don't deserve to be near me, someone who didn't have the strength to support you when you needed it."

Head bowed, I didn't notice that he was sitting up until his hands lightly clasped my shoulders, attracting my attention. "I will not let you make the same mistake I did. I know that you have reached a decision, but given that it is a stupid ass decision I have elected to ignore it."

"W-What do you mean?"

"You're upset."

"I... I'm not upset-" I faltered under his stern gaze. "... Was it really obvious?"

"Fairly."

I grimaced. "Great. Kei and Ayumi have definitely noticed. Anyone else I should know about?"

"Ai's been pretty concerned. Even Emiko noticed enough to take pity on you." He sat back, running his hand through his hair. "Kei and Ayumi are searching for you right now, actually. They've given you space, but they're worried. They want answers."

"They're not here... So, you didn't tell them?"

"Um... I may have purposely pointed them in the wrong direction...?" I raised an eyebrow, he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Probably shouldn't have done that. They're going to murder me later; when I die, you can have all my stuff, by the way. Make sure you rub it in their faces."

"I'll be sure to do that, as long as you cut to the chase."

He grinned. "You're not the only one that's transparent, huh?"

"Of course. What is it you wanted to say?"

" _Need,_ " He corrected, expression suddenly serious. "There's something I _need_ to say. For everyone's sake. Where are those two? You've been down ever since Zero and Ichii stopped coming to school. What are they doing?"

After a beat, I simply shrugged. "They have... personal matters they're dealing with right now."

"Why don't you help them?"

I pushed myself into a sitting position, crossing my legs neatly underneath me. "It's not as simple as that."

"Why can't it be?" He asked, with a more soft edge to his voice.

"Because... It's not something I can help with... I'd only be a bother, constantly getting in their way. They don't need me right now. It's... complicated."

"Then make it uncomplicated." I wrinkled my nose in confusion. "Look, Hikari. I was in your position, I know how you're feeling. But there's no use making the same mistakes I did. All you're doing is sitting around, torturing yourself with _what-ifs._ It's pointless, I would know. If you want to change it, then get up and do something. Go to them, say what you've been holding in for the past couple of days. You'll regret if you don't. Trust me. Hikari, the only thing holding you back is _you._ "

"But what if I mess up?"

"What is there to mess up with? They're your friends. Show them that you care about them. Tell them what's on your mind. They're not going to be angry at you for it. Will they?"

"No... They won't..." I nodded, more assertively than before. "I'll go after school."

He looked at me like I'd grown a second head. "After school?" He echoed, in disbelief. "There's no use waiting. It'll be on your mind for the rest of the day. Go now. Leave your stuff, I'll swing by your house later to drop it off. And don't worry about the teachers, I've got your back. Say you were looking real bad and went home sick. Even blame myself if worse comes to worst."

I threw my arms around his shoulders. "I don't deserve you." I said, squeeing him tightly.

"You're right," He agreed, embracing me with just as much affection. "You deserve so much more. Now go, before I demand compensation."

I giggled and parted with a considerably more cheerful wave.

Running around in my school uniform probably wasn't the most sensible idea I'd ever had, but I didn't want to waste time returning home to change. Instead, I searched the places I most expected them to be. Zero and Ichii were very mindful of the damage that they could cause, taking that into consideration, I didn't expect them to be around more densely packed areas, which was a plus as it helped me avoid too much attention from passers-by.

After searching a grand total of three parks and running through a small section of woodland, I approached my next target.

Distant noises emanating from this direction had piqued my interest.

A young couple were heading away from the scene with deliberate swiftness. From the corner of my eye, I saw them trade worried glances, before the man approached me and gently clapped his hand on my shoulder to bring me to a sedate halt. He seemed to understand that his height could be intimating and crouched down, his gaze troubled, too serious for his youthful face.

"Where are you going, little one?"

Slightly suspicious, I pointed forward. "That way. Why?"

He shook his head, gingerly turning me away. "S'not safe down there. Some kind of fight happening."

"A fight?" I echoed, eyes widening. "Did you see it?"

"A little. Why d'you ask?"

"Were there two boys there?"

The man frowned and looked towards his companion, a little lost. She stooped down as well, smiling prettily. "Yes, a brunette and a smaller blue-haired boy. Are they friends of yours?"

I _beamed,_ enthusiastically nodding my head. "Zero and Ichii. I've been looking all over for them."

"Even if your friends are there, you still should stay away. You don't want to get caught up in that mess."

I smiled sweetly. "Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I have to go now, but thank you for warning me. I'll definitely be careful." With a polite little bow, I hurriedly sprinted off before I could be stopped once more. They were so close, there was no way I was going to let them slip from my grasp now.

I followed the sounds of battle, ignoring my screaming lungs until I couldn't take it any longer and took a brief moment to rest.

They were just up ahead.

Cradling my side, I exited the treeline, my heart swelling with joy.

That happiness was quickly extinguished.

My fists slowly clenched into tight balls, nails pressing indents into my palm. Zero and Ichii were both slumped on the floor, in various degrees of exhaustion. The bluenette was clutching his injured thigh, facing twisted with pain. Even Zura was down, collapsed near Ichii's head. A huge dragon loomed over them, a formidable opponent.

Rage blossomed in my stomach.

Not fear.

Pure, red hot, unstoppable rage that seared in the blood pounding through my body and set every nerve alight.

Narrowing my eyes, I closed my hand over the shattered brick lying at my feet, took a deep, calming breath and wound my arm right back, lobbing the offensive weapon as hard as I could. My aim had been perfect. Gold-medal worthy. Worthy of being worshipped as a god for that undeniably unearthly throw that was strong enough to knock off a fair few of icy scales.

The two females examinees sized me up in silent fury.

Smart and cocky and too angry too know better, I made the mistake of smirking challengingly back, tipping my head disdainfully.

With a sharp click of fingers, the dragon snapped its gaze on me. Undeterred, I ventured forward a couple of steps, eyes focused solely on one object. It could be a real dragon for all I cared, and I still wouldn't give it much heed. The monstrosity had dared to hurt my friends, for that it would pay. _Heavily._

Dodging a clumsy lunge with minimal ease, I skipped the remaining distance to my designated position. Target reached, I refused to move an inch despite Ichii's faint but desperate pleas as the dragon reared its ugly head and charged at me. I watched its progress calmly, hand slowly raising upwards and closing firmly around the handle.

A swift side-step was all that was needed to prepare myself for the next strike. Setting my feet in a firm stance, I swung with all my might.

The bin lid connected with a resonating _clang_ and successfully detached the entirety of the dragon's lower jaw in one fell swoop.

Zero, who had been in the process of pushing himself up on shaking arms, stopped, his mouth dropping open in surprise. Beside him, Ichii blinked sedately, protectively cradling Zura close to his chest, shielding him from the icy spray as the jaw shattered into pieces.

It growled, the sound feral, rumbling from deep within its throat.

"Aw," I simpered, sweetly, swiftly moving as one of the huge feet came crashing down next to me. "Did that hurt, big guy? Why don't I put you out of your misery?"

I dived between its legs, giddy with adrenaline, almost giggling as the head swung like a pendulum to locate me. I attacked one of the rear feet with the lid, wincing as it sliced through the scales. The dragon roared with anger. I just barely managed to avoid being squashed.

"Hikari, get out of there!" Ichii commanded, voice threadbare with exhaustion, his legs folding like cards under him, his attempt at standing an utter failure.

I retreated to a safe distance, watching with a calculating eye as the dragon limped after me. Despite its considerable injuries, it was still determined to follow after me. I backed away, mildly perturbed. _Doesn't this thing ever quit?_

I ducked for cover, hitting my shoulder hard against the ground. The dragon's jaws just barely missed me, instead snapping a nearby tree in half. Eyes widening, I forcefully swallowed the lump that had risen in my throat. It spun, bristling with fury, advancing on me in big, earth-shaking steps. Careering forward, I took the offensive, the lid sliced away at some more scales, inflicting damage to its deadly maw, and further injuries to the front legs and underbelly.

On the last strike the plastic splintered somewhat in my hand.

 _This is a lot harder than I thought it'd be._

I pushed the thoughts down and ducked away, spinning around behind a tree which was felled when the dragon's head slammed directly into it. While it was dazed, I threw what was remaining of the lid as hard as I could, slicing an ear clean off, and zipped away in a zigzag pattern, thankfully avoiding each and every lunge.

With no weapon in sight, I was a sitting duck.

Zero was struggling to push himself up, slamming his closed fist upon the ground in frustration. The sight made my blood boil.

This damn dragon was had not only attacked Zero while he was at a significant disadvantage, it was also preventing me from reuniting happily with my friends, something which I had been longing for since the moment that we were all separated.

 _What an inconsiderate bastard._

The next strike I was unable to dodge. Thankfully, I didn't have to. With his lingering strength, Ichii tossed up a weak barrier between us, successfully keeping me from harm. I didn't have time to express my gratitude, I was already forced to retreat, my back hitting the very same bin I had commandeered my weapon from earlier.

Stamping hard, I expertly caught the end of the sturdy branch as it whipped up. It didn't fare very well, only dislodging a few icicles and serving to enrage the dragon even further, before it snapped and became utterly useless- rather like me, really.

Forced to retreat once more, I jumped to the side, landing awkwardly and twisting my ankle over. I crashed down, yelping loudly, barely managing to throw myself clear of the oncoming foot. Momentum tossed my body forward, forcing it to bouncing lifeless across the ground, with me emitting shaky little cries at every impact. The dragon's jaw snapped centimetres from my foot.

Suddenly, heat seared across my body. I flinched and curled up in a tight ball, desperately throwing my hands over my head, shielding my face as best as I could. A moment later and the burning had been reduced to a pleasant warmth that just barely graced my skin, despite the fact that I could still hear the fierce cracking of flames.

I waited, tucked in close, hands clamped over my ears to dampen the noise, until the chaos ended.

Gingerly, I lifted my head.

A shrill, breathless gasp escaped my lips.

A blazing figure met my eyes. Flames were rolling off Zero in big, furious waves, jet black smoke curling up around him, billowing in the breeze. His eyes, narrowed and deadly, glared venomous daggers into the two female examinees who quivered under his gaze. The ice dragon had been reduced to a half-melted, pitiful pile of rubble lying at his feet.

Panting heavily, a low, feral growl rose in his throat.

With every limping step he took, the ground cracked and splintered from the pressure. Sure, I was the equivalent to a Muggle, but I could _feel_ the magic power radiating from him. And _damn_ was it intense.

"You are going to _pay_ for hurting her." He spat, a wildfire raging in his eyes. " _Heavily._ "

Before I ever registered what I was doing, I'd launched myself forward, crashing straight into his back, my hands snapping around his middle. Not wishing to cause me harm, he instantly extinguished the flames and softened his demeanour- even going as far as to rest his hand on my wrist, the pad of his thumb tracing frantic circles over my skin- but his body still trembled with unparalleled fury.

"It's okay, Zero." He tensed, the pressure of his hand increasing. I released him, insistently tugging him to face me. I held my hand out, palm facing him, smiling tenderly. "See?" I whispered, soothingly, as the tips of his fingers brushed against my skin. "I'm all in one piece." Slowly, he interlocked our fingers, breathing gradually returning to normal. "Everything's alright now. I'm not hurt, I promise."

Uncertainly, his electric orbs flickered up to meet mine. Carefully untangling himself, he dipped his head the slightest amount, hands firmly cupping my cheeks, eyes expertly tracing me for any hint of a wound. Finding none, he affectionately brushed his thumbs across my cheekbones, exhaling in relief.

He stepped away, and for a short moment, I was able to breathe again.

That was shattered when Zero summoned deep crimson flames to shoot up his arms, observing the shaking pair of examinees with contempt. "Get out of my sight. I swear on everything holy, if you _ever_ come near her again, not even her compassion will save you. Understand?"

For a moment, it looked like the tallest girl was going to shoot something scathing back at him. She was silenced by fire igniting at her feet. The two scowled and reluctantly retreated.

"Thank God. I don't think I could've kept that up for much longer," Zero breathed, almost immediately slumping into my side. I squeaked, clutching him tightly, cautiously steadying him. Ichii was still on the floor, an arm tossed over his head, his chest rising and falling in rhythmic motions. I half dragged, half supported Zero as we meandered over, the bluenette dropping to his knees beside the older boy and giving his shoulder a hearty punch, despite my disapproval.

"You good?" He asked, and I could hear the underlying concern in his voice.

Ichii shifted his arm, squinting against the bright sunshine, and mustered a weak smile. "Who do you think you're talking to? Of course I am."

"Arrogant, much?"

"I have a right to be."

They laughed and pulled each other up, Ichii good-naturally tousling Zero's hair, while the younger boy protested loudly and jabbed Ichii's side with his elbow.

"You're okay!" Zura curled affectionately around my neck, nuzzling his little head against my jaw.

"Of course she is!" The bluenette responded, a hint of pride in his voice. "We trained her, after all. She's a right little tiger."

The little seahorse snickered when Zero flashed me a warm smile. "He _likes_ you." Giggling manically, Zura zipped under Ichii's jacket, eliciting a startled little yelp for the boy that was the epitome of adorable.

After recovering, the said brunette squeezed me in a fierce one-armed hug, lips ghosting against my forehead, before gently holding me out at arms length. "That was really reckless, Hikari. You could've been seriously hurt." He scolded, gently. I scuffed my foot against the ground, sheepishly averting my gaze. "Despite that... I'm really proud of the way you handled that."

"No kidding," Zero agreed, chipping me under the chin. "At this rate, you're going to take our job away from us." Then bluenette frowned, taking a long moment to look me up and down. "You're shivering." He observed, keenly. "Cold?"

After a moment of hesitation, I shook my head. "I'm fine." Zero merely continued levelling that stern look at me, hitching up a single, severe eyebrow. "Well... Maybe a little." I admitted, finally.

The bluenette relaxed and dumped his jacket around my shoulders. "So stubborn. You could've just said so at the start, you know."

"I didn't want to be a bother..."

Ichii's hands were planted on his hips. "How many times do we have to tell you? We're happy to do things for you." Glowing, I zipped the jacket up, snuggling gratefully into the warmth. Ichii lightly squeezed my hand, smiling brightly once he'd gained my attention. "Stay with us until the end?"

"There isn't any other place I'd rather be."

* * *

 **A/N: Again, I apologise for the late update. I've been really tired this past week, having five performances of Oliver in three days took a lot out of me.**

 **I hope you all enjoy this chapter. For quite a while I already had some parts finalised, it was just a struggle to piece it all together nicely.**

 **Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.**


	28. Passing The Magical Exam?

Only one hour remained.

It'd been four hours since I'd first found them, and we'd switched locations a fair bit since then, swiftly moving from place to place. Ichii absently followed much like a lost lamb, mentally calculating our next steps, sometimes being so wrapped up in his thoughts that we had to physically lead him (we learned this lesson the hard way, after he walked directly into the only obstacle within a eight foot radius of him, a single telegraph pole).

His wounded look of confusion had been utterly priceless.

For quite some time we had been resting in this park, tucked away from prying eyes. Me, cross-legged on the floor, still swaddled up in Zero's jacket, feeling cosy and content. Ichii just behind, perched on a bench, his slender fingers gliding through my hair. Zero eagerly leaning forward, watching Ichii work, his eyes bright, alive, the flicker of a grin rising at his lips when Zura would stir at his shoulder.

The wind languidly snaked through the trees, rustling what few leaves remained, lifting a few stray locks, causing Ichii to click his tongue and collect them back in his hand.

He was stressed, that much I could be certain of.

Before he had been fidgeting, drumming his fingers restlessly against his thighs, so I'd leaned against his legs, hoping to soothe him. The incessant movement halted almost immediately and, after several moments of hesitation, he began to play with my hair. I didn't complain. He was gentle and the motion was incredibly relaxing. Now, he was busying himself with twisting it into some complicated plait, Zero watching with far more interest than I expected from him.

"Band." I obediently held up my wrist. He pulled one of the hair bands off and held it between his teeth, using Zero's spare fingers to hold the end of the plait his was trying. The bluenette was happy to oblige, staying far stiller than I'd ever seen before. With the exam so close to ending, I'd expected him to be bouncing off the walls. Evidently, that was not the case.

Serene, I slid my eyes closed. It wouldn't have been too difficult for me to fall asleep right there and now.

The pressure dropped and a bobby pin was carefully inserted. A pause, then- under Ichii's instruction- Zero lightly pressed down some wayward locks. Another pin slide in.

The brunette sat back, proudly observing his masterpiece. Zero whistled appreciatively and, as if reading my mind, immediately pulled out his phone to snap a picture. He leaned a little closer than normal, arms hanging around my neck with his chin propped comfortably on top of my head, lazily angling the screen for me to see better, but quickly reeled back- the movement throwing Zura clear into the foliage behind- when I squealed high enough to deafen most dogs and rocketed up, throwing my arms around the startled brunette.

"Careful!" Ichii exclaimed as we tipped precariously. Swiftly, his hands clamped on my hips, shifting my weight so I was resting firmly on his lap. "Jeez, it'll fall out if you move too much."

"It's so pretty!" I gushed, giving him an affectionate squeeze. Zero, curious, lightly prodded the plait, which had been arranged in a perfect flower shape in the middle of my head, leaving the rest of my hair to freely cascade down my back. Ichii scoldingly swatted him away. Zero pouted. "How'd you do it?"

"He likes to mess with Sarasa's hair," Zero informed, ignoring the light flush that dusted across Ichii's cheeks. "Been doing cool stuff with it for years, he can do all sorts now. Makes all her friends jealous 'cause their little brothers don't do nice things like that for them."

"It makes her happy," Ichii added, with a little sheepish shrug that was the epitome of adorable.

Zero opened his mouth to say something, then stopped dead in his tracks. I watched his brows furrow in concentration, ear cocked to listen intently. And then his head snapped over his right shoulder. "... the hell?" His eyes narrowed dangerously, flicking over to Ichii. "You feel that?" His voice rumbled low in his chest. Small, barely noticeable flames glided over his knuckles.

"Examinees?" Zura asked, flying over to sit on my head.

Ichii nodded, tight-lipped. "Yeah. About four?"

"I make it five and that god-awful wolf. Damn thing better think twice before going at her again."

"No kidding. Coming from the south?"

"This is all kinds of fun right now," Zero spat, bitterly. "Must be picking up the signal. Couple are closer than the others."

The bluenette was already standing, body tense, wired, ready to spring, yet he still allowed his concentration to waver momentarily to lightly help me up to my feet. Ichii gave my shoulder a little squeeze, guiding me forward. I made sure to keep a steady pace so I didn't dislodge the little seahorse. "Stay close. You know what to do."

My hand fisted around the ball in my pocket. A muscle jumped in Zero's jaw; he bounced into a run, Ichii following with me only a step behind. They were faster, from all their intense training and physical endurance. It was a daunting task to keep pace with them for even a couple of minutes.

A blur streaked out of the trees.

Zero's warning was drowned out by Ichii's sharp cry as the creature collided with him, the brunette falling down in a wild tangle of limbs. A brief, panicked struggle ensued.

Horrified, my hands clapped across my mouth, muffling my scream.

Eyes gleaming with bloodlust, the wolf-hybrid pressed its paw harder against Ichii's throat. His delicate skin was marred with gradually deepening indents, the monster's knife-like claws stained red. The boy spluttered weakly, dribbling scarlet down his bottom lip, desperately fighting against the crushing force.

There was a moment of silence.

And then Zero exploded, fire leaping to life and engulfing him in a ball of flames.

"Only saying it once," The threatening undertone was unmistakable."Let him go, or I will kill you." Body shaking with unadulterated fury, I didn't doubt that Zero wouldn't carry through on his ultimatum.

"Is that meant to scare me? Cute." Smirking far too casually to be fully aware of the gravity of his position, Tomi dropped down next to me. I prided myself on barely flinching. Zero's hand closed around my upper arm, pulling me back behind him. "I'm quaking in my boots."

"Good enough for me," Zero flashed his teeth in warning. "But you just made the top slot on my enemies list. Too bad for you. Don't you think?"

Annoyed with the intruder's attitude, I growled low in my throat.

Tomi merely laughed, sealing his death sentence. "You know, you're really cute when you do that. You sound like a really fierce kitten."

Outraged on my behalf, Zero lunged towards him. His wolf partner cocked his head and put more pressure on Ichii, a strangled gurgle tearing up from the very depths of his lungs. Zero froze immediately, haltingly dropping his fist.

"Tomi, _I swear to God-_ "

To say Zero was not amused would be putting it lightly. He looked as though he wanted to rip off the hand that Tomi arrogantly raised to silence him.

"The Crystal Pearl in exchange for his life. It's simple, really."

Zura was on the verge of tears. I was furious. Zero looked like he wanted to blow something up.

Heat flushed my body. Through my red haze, I span around and slapped Tomi. An open-handed, hard smack that echoed like a gunshot off the towering trees. There was a collective intake of breath. "You son of a bitch!"

I strained against Zero's grip, the still aflame bluenette showing a surprising amount of maturity, hauling me away from Tomi who rubbed his tender cheek with an ugly scowl, steel-grey eyes hard, glinting like flint. Already, a massive welt was forming. He sure as hell would be feeling that for quite a while.

"The Pearl." He all but growled, while his wolf partner dipped his muzzle down alarmingly close to Ichii's arm, jaws spread, ready to rip into his flesh. "Now."

I levelled him a look of absolute disgust. "You dirty _coward._ "

He grinned, all shark-like in more than looks, sharpened canines glinting dangerously in the sun. "You wound me."

"You _._ " The blunette's electric orbs were narrowed into furious slits. "You're going to pay for this."

"I'm losing patience, Zero."

"Didn't have much to begin with." I shot back, scathingly.

"I'm not waiting all day. Three," Zero clenched his jaw. "Two," Reluctantly, he loosened his grip, firmly pressing a cool object into my hand. "One." Lingering to placate me with a gentle touch on my shoulder, which expertly hid the subtle transaction to my pocket, Zero switched his gaze to Tomi, who cockily crossed his arms. "Well?"

"You win." He managed to spit out through gritted teeth.

The fire still flared around the bluenette as he approached, loose tendrils curling up my legs to ward off any souls brave enough to take a step in my direction with bad intent. Upper lip curled in a vicious sneer, Zero dropped a little pink ball into Tomi's expecting hand.

The steel-eyed boy's victorious grin disappeared in an instant. Angered, he threw the fake Pearl down, growling when it bounced mockingly back at him.

"This isn't the Crystal Pearl!"

A flash of silver, and the end of a pen was pressed firmly against a pressure point on Tomi's throat, Zero having twisted the boy into a tight lock. "Listen here, you little bastard," He scowled when the boy snarled. "S' a tactical pen. Specially made. Real strong and durable. Expensive, too. Supposed to be a Christmas present for Hikari, so don't make me get it dirty, get where I'm coming from?"

Deadly silence- then a very slow, thunderous. "... Yes."

Zero smiled, poison-sweet. "I'm glad we've reached an understanding. Now, you get that thing to back off."

"Alright. Since you asked so nicely."

" _I wasn't asking_."

"I'm aware of that." He snapped, more than a little pissed. "The sharp point at my neck did make it quite clear."

A high whistle sounded. Without any hesitation, his partner padded over and sat at his heels, perfectly serene as Zero shoved Tomi away from him, collecting the bouncy ball from the ground.

Releasing the breath I hadn't realised I was holding, I darted straight to where Ichii lay, throwing myself down beside him and ducking to cover my head when Zero blasted the boy through a tree with one fatal shot of his Magic Cannon attack. Zero's jacket was removed smoothly from my shoulders, successfully staunching the bleeding.

Zura sniffed mournfully. "Is he gonna die?"

Ichii, regaining his strength by the second, swiped the blood from his lip, sitting up despite my protests, looking amused at my rush of bossiness. "I'm fine," He assured the panicked seahorse. "There's a lot of blood, but it's not deep. Trust me, looks much worse than it really is." Ignoring my stern look, Ichii (with a little difficulty, though I suppose his magic helped) used the tactical pen Zero tossed him to tear the sleeves up into a makeshift bandage, which he allowed me to fasten firmly around his throat.

Heat seared across my skin. I grimaced, barely registering Ichii yanking me flush against his chest in the chaos that erupted.

The appearance of a miniature army of Steps Cats interrupted the two-on-one fight that Zero had most definitely been winning, signifying the arrival of a cheerful San and Forte. However, what was arguably worse were the outraged screeches from Rokka and Yakumo, the latter of which had apparently returned from training with Nanase.

I wish they'd stayed.

Ichii's sighed heavily. "I really don't have the energy to deal with this."

Evidently, he was done pretending to like people.

The brunette seized me around the waist, hoisting me up with him into the nearest tree, Zura tucked neatly under his other arm.

Below, Zero and the wolf were trading blows, while a disorientated Tomi staggered up, bleeding profusely from a cut at his temple, his clothes terribly singed in places. Rokka was still screaming gibberish. As usual, no-one was paying her much attention. San and Nanase were squabbling childishly. So much so that poor Forte, who was stuck standing next to them, looked as though he would rather being doing literally anything else with his time.

After assuring my safety, Ichii patted my head. "Stay here," he commanded, gently.

My hand tangled in his sleeve, keeping him in place. "You're hurt." I said, stubbornly. " _Stay here._ Rest."

He smiled, patient and soft, adopting the tone he usually reserved for children. My eyes narrowed into annoyed slits. "Listen Hikari, I really need to-"

"Cut the condescending attitude. I'm not a child." He faltered. I continued, looking surprisingly fierce as I glared. "You shouldn't fight. You'll only make that injury worse."

Ichii sighed, a faint grin forming. "You're getting bossier."

"You're getting more stupid." I retorted, but grudging smiled back. "Don't go," I stressed, voice firm, yanking his attention away from where Zero was gleefully prancing around the other examinees.

"Zero needs my help-"

"Zero needs you to stay safe!"

Ichii clenched his jaw. "I am not a maiden in need of defending."

"And you think I am?"

"You're not superman." He said, tone colder, harsher than I was accustomed to. "You're not like us, Hikari. You don't have magic. If you go in there, you will die. They're not pulling punches any more. Everyone wants to win. I _will_ be going to assist my partner and you _will_ stay here. No matter how capable Zero is, he is more injured than me and he can't fend off them all on his own for long."

I failed to stop him as he lightly jumped down, the tips of my fingers just barely brushing his back. Zura stopping me from following him.

The commotion only grew with Ichii's appearance.

The one and only merit seemed to be that none of the other examinees knew who was really in possession of the Pearl. I took out my phone, glancing at the timer I had set.

Half an hour remained.

* * *

Ten minutes had passed.

Zero and Ichii, for the most part, had just been artfully dodging everything that had been thrown at them. Often, wayward attacks would hit other examinees, which started petty squabbles and fights that allowed the two boys to slip away, unnoticed, sometimes taking a spare second to move me.

The boys had been messing around with Ichii's rubber ball for quite some time. They'd done an amazing job of convincing everyone it was the actual Pearl, it helped that Zero mockingly flashed his own fake to Tomi.

A cold breeze ruffled my hair. Almost instantly, it was replaced by a pleasant heat. Zero was next to me, absently swinging his feet. Immediately, we dissolved into playful teasing, though I had a sinking suspicion that Zero only appeared because he'd noticed how badly I'd been shivering. Void of the jacket he had previously entrusted me with, the bluenette took it upon himself to warm me up with the only means at his disposal. The boy usually had a warmer body temperature than most, but after discovering his affinity with fire, he had become akin to a personal space heater. With the cold chilling me to the bone, I was more than happy to snuggle up to him.

Several minutes later, there was a considerable distance between us. Zero was settled on the slimmest section of the branch, gracefully ignoring gravity which was inevitable going to protest. I was curled near the truck, Zura nestled in my lap, a flame flickering in my cupped hands, successfully keeping us warm.

I remained deathly silent, not wishing to distract the blue haired boy, who focused entirely on the group bothering Ichii, observing every movement with intelligent, calculating eyes.

I'd never seen him look so serious.

Zero was impatient.

His attention span was shorter than a gnat. He couldn't seem to sit still and a lot of the time fidgeted worse than a five-year-old on the holiest of sugar rushes.

He was impulsive.

He was always getting scolded by Ichii for acting without thinking about the consequences.

But right now, his concentration was solely on his best friend, calmly seizing up the battle, weighing up his options. Brows furrowed, he really was debating his next move with alarming precision.

He must have noticed something; a flicker of weakness, a subtle change in Ichii's speed, for he suddenly went surging forward, making a neat trade off with the older boy, who quickly went racing along the tree branches towards me, leaving Zero to fend for himself.

A greenish blur whipped past, slamming into Ichii's chest for a hug. Ichii humoured the little seahorse, giving him an affectionate squeeze in return, while I extinguished the flame in my hand. I gripped his arm tight enough to bruise when the wooden limb swayed under our feet. Ichii's touch was gentle against my skin. All of a sudden his arm was around my waist and the wind whipped past my ears in an exhilarating rush, then we landed, and at close distance Ichii's eyes were wide and jubilant and so, so charming.

"Enjoying yourself?" I asked, suitably entertained.

He flushed, a little embarrassed. "Well..."

I cut him off, beaming. "Let's do it again!"

Ichii took a moment to register my words, then grinned, a full blown, glowing smile that lit up his whole face. He looked like a child on Christmas. It melted my heart.

Rokka had noticed our decent and perked up, happily skipping towards Ichii. The brunette, pausing momentarily from where he had been brushing dirt from my shirt, shot her a chiding look that made her falter. Gou, seizing the opportunity, gently pulled her to the side.

Not too far away, Zero was taunting Tomi. He was definitely enjoying messing with him. Not that the boy didn't deserve it, after threatening to kill Ichii.

The aforementioned boy's slender finger teased at a stray lock of hair that must have slipped from the plait during all the commotion. The little frown that tugged at his features was the epitome of adorable. From somewhere to the side, a barely panting Zero jokingly yelled "Get a room!"

Ichii, in a rare moment of childishness, leaned even closer, tucking my fringe behind my ear deliberately slowly, his touch sending pleasant shivers up my spine, sticking his tongue out at the bluenette over my shoulder.

Zero only laughed, a flicker of cold fire brushing across Ichii's hand.

I rolled my eyes, giving Ichii a light jab with my elbow. Understanding the message, the brunette backed away, eyes still sparkling impishly. He blinked and narrowed his eyes at a flash of blond that bobbed in the corner of my vision. Forte had his head cocked to the side, watching me like a curious puppy. Ichii, protectively, shuffled forwards a couple of steps so that our arms brushed, his eyes flashing dangerously, just daring the boy to try anything weird.

"Something wrong, Forte?" I asked, sweetly. Beside me, Ichii tensed. I could see the tell-tale glow of his hands, an obvious sign that he was preparing his magic.

"You're by her." His brows furrowed in thought. "Why are you there? Why do you both keeping going back there?"

"So she doesn't get hurt, obviously."

Forte didn't even acknowledge him, merely continuing to mutter under his breath, mulling the words over. "No-one's near her. Why is he there? Everyone is after Zero. They're all going after Zero. He's the one that has the-" His stopped, glancing up in realisation. "You have the Pearl." It wasn't a question. There was no uncertainty in his voice. He was stating it, like one would state a fact.

Ichii sent me a quick, warning glance. Zero tripped and went down hard, yelping at the impact. I took in a deep breath and said, "Absolutely."

"Ah hell," Ichii breathed. "Okay, then. _Run."_

Forte came careering after us, shouting over his shoulder for San to follow which she did, albeit a bit hesitantly. Zero had clocked us, his expression shifting to one of horror. Smoke leaked from his nostrils, giving off a deadly demeanour. Without much effort, a wall of fire had spiked up behind us, blocking the blond's path.

While Forte stopped in shock, Zero went shooting past, directly through the middle of his flames. The heat switched in an instant, from a soft warning to searing at my flesh, despite the distance I and Ichii were already at.

The said brunette swore loudly and scooped me up into his arms, grabbing Zura out of the air and yelling fiercely over his shoulder at Zero to _cut it out before you melt us, you moron!_ Zero obeyed immediately, having the decency to look ashamed as he caught up with us. "Sorry 'bout that. You okay, Hikari?"

"Perfectly fine. No burns or anything."

The panic in his eyes vanished, replaced by relief. "Good." Zero's smile was sweet, more inner and private than anything I'd seen from him before. "Ichii?" There was an edge of hesitance.

"Same here. Still in one piece." His jaw clenched with worry. "They're gaining on us. Take Hikari. Keep going, alright?"

Zero nodded, serious once more, catching me as Ichii gently tossed me up (despite my threats that I would kill him if he did so) and continued to run. Ichii erected a barrier behind us, stance unwavering as he clashed with a pair of female examinees I was sure hadn't been present earlier.

" _Dammit,"_ Zero cursed, breath ragged. Both boys, I'd noticed, were quickly beginning to tire. "The others have found us, too." Sharp as a knife, the boy turned on his heel, rocketing us back towards the brunette, voice raising to a parade ground bellow that had me clasping my hands over my ears. "Ichii, we have a situation!"

The brunette threw down a smoke bomb and a moment later, darted out of the fog, steadying himself on my shoulder, touch light and reassuring. "Surrounded?" He asked tight-lipped, raking a hand through his hair- more desperate than I'd ever seen before- when Zero nodded grimly. "How long do we have left?"

"Five minutes."

Zura ceased flying anxiously around our heads, my head apparently making a good enough purchase for the little seahorse.

"What?" Ichii murmured.

"Five minutes," Zura reported. "That's when the exam ends."

Zero's canines flashed in a childish grin, a playful wisp of flame teasing from between his lips, his limp all but forgotten as he stepped out from us, my shoulder still tingling from where he'd heartily patted it. "Who's ass am I kicking first?" He mused, fire erupting up his arms, shooting along the floor to encircle us, the mere presence of the flames enough to ward off the examinees that arrived.

His eyes gleamed with elation.

Cracking each knuckle in turn, he watched a pair of red headed examinees seize him up with mild interest.

 _Four minutes._

Ichii pulled me and Zura behind him as they collided in a rush of flames and water.

For a split second Zero looked perturbed, then the wave careering towards him evaporated under the intense heat. Ichii used a barrier to protect us against the searing steam. Zero darted out from the fog, engaging in a brief fist fight that ended soon enough with him coming out victorious.

 _Two and a half minutes remaining._

An extendable weapon crashed into the dirt by his foot. Zero smirked, a puff of flame setting it alight.

Yakumo shrieked and hurriedly batting it out, while Nanase rolled his eyes, looking as though he was seriously reconsidering his choice of partner. A pretty melody rose up, and one of the red headed twins were standing once more, as if pulled up by an invisible thread.

"Oh, hell no," I whispered, clutching Ichii's sleeve. "That's way too creepy."

Zura pressed himself closer, tail thrashing nervously. "Forte is here," The little seahorse hissed, nose wrinkled with disgust "Definitely his magic controlling that boy."

Water and fire clashed. Flashes bright enough to blind collided in what would have otherwise been a peaceful clearing.

 _Two minutes._

Ichii's shields were inadequate against sheer intensity of the attacks. His arm was tight around my waist, keeping me secured to the side.

The world seemed to explode.

It hit me as a hard, hot shove, and then I was down and rolling across the grass, landing hard on my back with twigs digging into my skin, hands clamped over my ears to muffle the strangled, pained cries that rose up and the wild crackle of flames.

I sat up, staring.

Ichii was no longer at my side.

Neither was Zura.

There were pieces of splintered bark everywhere, still falling like flaming rain. I could feel the heat and acrid smoke was carried in black plumes on the wind, but there was no fire.

A girl with golden hair came stumbling out, eyes hazy. She fell at my side, accepting my touch as I carefully lifted her into a sitting position. Blood smeared across her forehead, but it was merely a flesh wound that was healed with a simple touch of her slender fingers. She pressed a digit against my cheek, the dull ache from a cut fading into nothingness. Smiling, I thanked her and dived into the fray, hand delving in my pocket for the reassuring smooth surface of the Pearl.

I found nothing.

My throat constricted.

All of a sudden something came leaping out next to me. Gou caught the wild kick I swung at him, steadying me carefully and being certain not to move until I had relaxed. Calmly, he pointed in the direction he'd emerged from. "They're over there." He informed before heading off to locate Rokka.

 _One minute._

Both Zero and Ichii were on the floor, tussling the old-fashioned way with Forte and Yakumo respectively. Yakumo was sporting an impressive split lip. Up against Ichii, it was surprising he wasn't a little more worse for wear.

"Give me the Crystal Pearl!" Forte ordered, and Zero barely dodged the fist Forte slammed into the ground, where his head had just been situated.

"I don't have it!" The boy spat back, kicking the blond boy off him.

 _Thirty seconds._

Zero noticed me, eyes widening in horror. Forte looked like a cat who'd just caught a mouse. "What are you doing?" Zero yelled, shooting up when he noticed Forte's sinister grin at this new development. "Run, you idiot!"

"There's no point." I whispered, my heart twisting painfully. "It's gone."

Zero's expression went blank just a moment before he tackled Forte to the ground. "The hell do you mean _it's gone?_ "

Helplessly, I shook my head. "It's not in my pocket, I must have dropped it or something. I'm sor-" A flash of pink caught my attention. The pearl was hovering next to my ear. "... ry?"

 _Twenty seconds._

We paused. Forte blinked, Zero pinned him. To the side, Ichii pushed Yakumo down, twisting his arm into a painful lock. "Grab it and run!" They both yelled.

I snatched it up.

 _Fifteen._

I lobbed it towards the brunette.

 _Twelve._

Like it had a mind of it's own, the Pearl looped back around to me, smacking me in the head. Perplexed, I rubbed the aching spot, the Pearl sitting in my palm.

 _Eight._

I caught it this time, as it returned to me after another failed attempt to pass it to Ichii.

 _Five._

Forte broke free, lunging towards me.

 _Four._

Zero shot to his feet, diving after him.

 _Three._

The blond's hand was a hair's breath away.

 _Two._

They went down in a tangled flurry of limbs.

 _One._

I dropped the Pearl into Ichii's hand.

 _Zero._

"The Magical Exam is over."

"Congratulations, Zero, Ichii," The sudden, yet familiar voice had Zero's arm shooting out, keeping me behind him. It was unnecessary, really, for I'd already awkwardly apologised to Will for attacking him. Several times. And for my previous repeated urges to hit him with a chair. "By passing the fiftieth Magic Exam, the Magical Exam Centre appoints you as professional sorcerers." Will's lips quirked in an amused smile, Aquamarine sitting contently in his arms.

I beamed and all of a sudden I was crushed in a hug, Ichii squeezing the absolute life out of me, disbelief etched onto his features. Zero was laughing, Zura so excited he flung his little arms over the bluenette's face. "Hikari," He called, and I obliged, throwing myself at him. We span in several tight circles before he stumped and sent the two of us falling down in a heap.

"We passed," He whispered softly.

"You did," I confirmed, eyes filled with warmth.

Zero affectionately cupping my cheeks, resting his forehead against mine. "All because we had our good luck charm with us. Hikari, the Goddess of Victory."

He winced at the sudden onslaught of pure, golden light emanating from the Pearl, using his fingers to shield my eyes. From the centre, a dazed delicate dragon appeared, flapping his little wings.

Once the little dragon, who I'd dubbed Pearl, had stopped chewing on my head, I finally managed to relax.

After choosing me as it's master in pearl-form, the little dragon had become inconsolable upon discovering I was a mere human, hence the teeth marks in Ichii's hand from where he'd tried to pry Pearl off of me. Zero had fared much better when the dragon had breathed fire at him for calling his precious horn an ear, the bluenette merely teasingly twisting the flames so they curled around me- not burning, never burning.

Will, who had been watching on for quite some time, amused, cleared his throat loudly. "Looks like you boys have your first task as professional sorcerers. Zero, Ichii, stay with Hikari and offer your support. The three of you together will raise the familiar."

They smiled at me- a sweet, heartfelt, delighted expression that lit up their faces.

Zero's expression turned wondrous. "Snow!" He exclaimed with child-like glee, pointing up.

Sure enough, perfect flakes were beginning to fall.

I'd never been so happy in my life.

* * *

Zero staggered in through the front door. He didn't make it very far. In fact, five steps down the hallway he gave up and collapsed against the wall, sliding into a sitting position. Instantly, I was crouching down next to him. His fists wound tight in his shirt, he gazed up at me with a strained expression, breath rattling in his chest.

"Hurts?" I asked, softly.

Wincing, his fingers brushed over the crimson staining his trouser leg. The blood was seeping through his bandages despite the help that Will had provided soon after him receiving the injury. Evidently, the examiners couldn't just sit back and watch one of the participants bleed to death.

"Like Hell," He gritted his teeth.

Ichii was incredibly pale.

He hadn't spoken much on the walk home. I'd expected him to be ecstatic, considering they both just passed the exam they had been working so hard for, yet the brunette seemed rather sombre, for some strange reason.

"Maybe you should wait upstairs?" I suggested kindly, fully aware that Ichii was just as exhausted, if not more so than Zero.

Wearily, he nodded and trudged up to my room. We both watched him go, Zero looking far more worried than I anticipated.

Keeping his voice low, the boy beckoned me closer. Obediently, I stooped down, allowing him to whisper in my ear, "Something's wrong with him. He's acting weird."

"I noticed it, too." I admitted, frowning. "He was fine earlier. I don't know what's changed..."

"He's hurting." The little dragon said, his keen eyes bright, gleaming in the light.

My own orbs widened. Annoyed at my own stupidity, I gave myself a light smack on the forehead. "Of course! His throat must kill." My hand on Zero's shoulder was gentle. "Will you be alright if I leave you alone with my mother? I'll take care of Ichii in the meantime."

"S'okay. I'd rather you be with him, anyway. Think he needs it more than me."

Grateful, I gave him a little smile. It took some effort to pull him up, but soon enough we'd meandered into the kitchen, causing my mother to almost drop Tabby in shock, the woman immediately yanking her earphones out before setting the excitable kitten on the floor.

"Zero! What on Earth happened to you?"

"Uh..." The boy froze. "Was breaking up a fight. Some punks beating on a little kid, you know? All a bunch of weaklings, mind, coulda taken 'em in my sleep. Something distracted me... May have got stabbed a bit..."

" _A bit?_ " She echoed, with a hint of hysteria. "Stabbed _a bit?_ "

He grimaced sheepishly, yelping when she coldly yanked down his trousers, displaying the tattered bandages on his upper thigh. I squealed, my hands clamping over my eyes, barely catching sight of Zero's flushed cheeks. He looked utterly mortified. My mother tutted as she inspected the injury with clinical precision, deftly ignoring Zero's half-stifled pained whines.

"Hikari, pass me the first aid kit under the sink."

I hurried to do so, respecting Zero's privacy and exiting the room. The entire time, both Pearl and Zura had remained docile, peeking out from a pocket each. The little seahorse giggled, settling on my shoulder as I clattered up the stairs. "He liiiiiiikes you."

"Quiet, you," I hissed back, only half serious. "Or I'll stuff you."

Pearl started snickering, too, as I entered my room. More precisely, my _empty_ room, because Ichii wasn't anywhere to be seen. Confused, I cocked my head, even going as far as to peer under my bed. The little dragon emerged, taking my head for his perch and pushing his nose in the air, sniffing once or twice. Then his head snapped over his shoulder, focused on the door of my wardrobe.

"He's in there."

"Thanks, Pearl." He gave a rumbling purr-like sound when I tickled him under the chin.

Creeping into the boy's unit, I went to yell for the brunette, but Zura gently pushed his little feet over my mouth, stopping me. He was staring at Pearl, the little dragon sitting incredibly still, brows furrowed intensely.

"What's wrong?" I asked, quietly.

"Hallway. First door on the right."

Confused, but considerably more wary, I followed his instructions, pressing my ear up against the bathroom door. From inside, I could hear the shower. Sighing with relief, I backed away. "He must be washing the dirt off him." I whispered, but froze when a faint, hiccuping sound reached my ears.

 _Is he...?_

Pearl appeared to be more downcast. "I think we should go." He decided, staring pointedly at Zura. Both the dragon and seahorse swiftly fluttered back into the boy's room, mostly likely to go wait in mine.

When I slowly turned the handle, the door didn't move even an inch. Locked, most likely. Which wouldn't be too suspicious, if he hadn't have been sobbing loud enough to be heard over the running water. It was ingenious, really. So much so that I wondered how many times he'd done this and neither Zero or I had realised.

Feeling shame and guilt rise in my stomach, I cautiously used my knuckles to rap on the wood.

Ichii sucked in a sharp breath.

There was silence for a long moment.

"Ichii," Complete stillness. "I know you're in there. Open up."

He debated this for a couple of seconds. The door creaked open a couple of inches just as I went to knock again, revealing a sliver of his profile. His eyes were puffy and red, still swimming with tears. Breath catching in my throat, I pushed it open all the way.

He cringed away from my touch as I breathed a quiet, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," His hand scrubbed down his face. "I'm fine."

"Liar."

"I'm not," He insisted. "These are... Happy tears."

Planting my hands firmly on my hips, I glared fiercely at him. "Then why did you hide in here?"

"I wasn't-" His voice was thick with agony, eyes begging me to leave him be. "I wasn't hiding."

I softened, my hands resting on his cheeks.

"Look at me," My fingers brushed over his cheekbones, palms noting his tightly clenched jaw. "You can tell me these things, Ichii. You know that, don't you? You don't have to suffer on your own." He remained quiet, staring at the ground. I gently raised his gaze, feeling my heart constrict when I felt water against my fingers.

"Please... You don't need to-"

"You don't have to happy all the time. It's okay to be sad."

He contemplated this for a moment, then suddenly screamed with pent up frustration, slamming his fist against the wall. Breaking down, he sunk to the floor, cradling his arm to his chest. The skin was torn, blood rippling out over his knuckles.

"The hell, Ichii?" I exclaimed, scrambling over to inspect his new injury.

I met his gaze, startled by the lost and defeated look he wore. "You're aware that in the past I wasn't exactly the best person to be around?"

"You did some things you weren't proud of," I recalled, with a frown.

"That's putting it lightly." He laughed darkly, the sound the bitterest I'd heard from him, full of self-hatred and shame. "I... was a delinquent. An orphan that thought nobody liked or loved him, and was lonely. My step sister tried her best for me, but she deserved her own happiness." A pause. "I felt like Jeff was stealing her from me, that if they continued to date, I wouldn't have anyone left."

His smile was tight. "I hated myself. Thought I wasn't good enough. That somehow I was inadequate, and Sarasa was with Jeff to escape me. Having them all in danger made me realise just how much I had. Jeff only recently told me that she'd lose sleep worrying over me..." His gaze returned to mine, brimming with sorrow. He ignored the crimson rivets streaking down his hand. "I still feel guilty for causing her so much pain. I couldn't bear it if anything were to happen to any of them."

"So," he continued, with a harsh sound, throwing his arms out to indicate himself. "Here I am. Ichii, King of Self-Imposed Insecurities. Behold me and all my failures."

"Failures?"

He was crying again, I realised, but he wouldn't let me touch him. "I can't make up for being a reckless brat. I'm constantly making you all worry about me with those stupid nightmares and even then I can't stop them from coming true; I couldn't protect Zero. He's hurt because-" A sob tore from his throat. "I'm useless."

"You're not." I contradicted firmly.

"I am!" He was yelling, frantic, his hiccuping sobs slurring his words. "Can't even sleep properly- pathetic! Someone my age should be able to deal with nightmares. You shouldn't be waking up in the night 'cause of me screaming." His hands fisted in his hair. "I specialise in Defence Magic. My entire purpose is to protect others! I should have been there. He's hurt because of me, because I couldn't protect him. But-" Another sob that had his voice breaking. "He saved _me_ from that wolf _._ He's _my_ responsibility and yet he saved _me._ In the end, I couldn't even protect myself."

"You protected me." I reminded, quietly. Ichii blinked, focusing tearfully on me. "That explosion. I've only got a couple of bruises now, but it would have been a whole lot worse if it weren't for you."

"I-"

"And why the hell are you trying to take on that much? You can't control everything, Ichii. Sometimes people get hurt. You can't help that, it's life. If you can't deal with that, you'll run yourself ragged." I reached up and slapped myself. He was stunned. "Could you protect me against that?" I asked softly, eyes blazing as he gently pressed my palms against the ground. "You can't read my mind. You couldn't have know I was going to do that, so does that still make it your fault for not being able to stop me?"

Affectionately, I rested my forehead against his. "You're not Superman, Ichii." I whispered, echoing his earlier words. "And neither Zero or I expect you to be."

"I'm sorry."

I hushed him, brushing my thumbs over his cheeks to wipe away his tears. "Don't apologise. Your feelings are valid."

"I hate failing."

I flashed him a secret smile. "Wanna know a secret?" His eyes implored me to continue. "Everyone does, even those who seem like they don't. We strive for success, it's who we are. Your ability to get back up after failing is what determines who you are. Will you try again?"

"Yes." His lips quirked. "I always do."

"You don't have to shoulder all this by yourself. It's good to feel responsible for some things, it helps you grow. But one person can't handle everything alone. Look out for Zero, I don't mind. But don't feel crushed if something out of your control happens." His eyes were free from tears. "Zero doesn't blame you at all, you know. He panicked himself, dived in front of me without even thinking. You saw how he vaporised the water earlier, it wouldn't have been impossible for him to do the same then."

"How is he?"

Grinning, I stifled a laugh. "Aside from being incredibly embarrassed, he's fine. I figure the scab was tore open during all the fighting. I doubt it'll even scar much, thanks to whatever Will did."

"He didn't have enough time to heal it properly," The brunette explained. "The examinees caught up to us quicker than expected, but he stopped the majority of the bleeding and slapped a bandage over it- said it had some kind of healing salve on it."

I nodded, thoughtfully. "It worked really well. Wish I had some for you." Cautious, I sat back on my haunches. "Will you let me take a look?"

He displayed his hand, grimacing at the sight of his bloodied knuckles, dancing away when I pulled it in to my lap. "You'll get your clothes dirty."

I snorted, laughing. "I don't care. It's just a bit of blood, it'll wash out."

He smiled, tentative and so utterly heart-warming with its delicacy.

I was so grateful for his existence.

* * *

Four days had passed since then.

Christmas had come and gone. The boys, of course, had celebrated with with my mother and I. Presents were exchanged, memories were made- for the first time in a while, we could all relax and have fun. Admittedly, I was wearing a fair few of my gifts. The pretty blue bow from Zura was tucked into my hair, the black cat pedant- a gift received from Ichii- was cold against my skin, and- upon Zero's instruction- the tactical pen he'd given me was snapped to the strap of my bag.

My favourite gift (though I would never say so aloud) was safely tucked away at home. A photo album full of pictures spanning from when I was a child until now. Early memories I could barely remember of playing with Hiro, visible years pass before Kei and Ayumi appear, then to more recently, where Zero and Ichii are added into the mix. I'd almost squeezed the life out of the three of them when they'd presented it to me, Kei looking cool and indifferent as usual- though the excited twinkle in her eye was hard to hide- Ayumi bouncing in anticipation, excited as ever, and a hopeful but anxious Hiro.

Cheerfully, I kicked my foot through a pile of snow, giggling at the boy's groans when the cold spray hit them. Pearl artfully hid himself in my hair, mostly protected.

The little dragon had somewhat calmed down, though both he and Zura could be fiercely possessive over all three of us when they wanted to be, which was usually entertaining.

At the moment, Pearl was sitting on my shoulder, too proud to admit that he was interested in all the new sights, sounds and smells around him. Zura had claimed Ichii, finding his head to be a suitable perch. Aside from a resigned little sigh, the brunette had no other reaction to the little seahorse settling himself there.

Not too far away a father was spinning his son around. The little boy was cheering happily, his excited squeals carrying across the park.

I smiled, adding a quick skip to my step to keep up with the boys, being careful not to dislodge Pearl.

Zero had noticed, too. But he clenched his teeth and kicked a pebble across the ground. Frowning, I watched as he roughly stuffed his hands in his pockets and quickening his pace.

Smiling sympathetically, Ichii said "You miss him, don't you?"

"Miss who?"

"Jeff," He clarified, when Zero only stared stupidly at him. "You miss him."

Embarrassed, Zero turned away. "No. Of course not."

My head swivelled back to the brunette as he released a small, humoured chuckle. "I miss Sarasa." He admitted, gently. Zero blinked, cocking his head, visibly interested. "This is the longest we've been apart for. It's more difficult than I thought I'd be."

"You never went on any school trips, right?"

Ichii nodded easily. "That's right. They didn't interest me back then, so I stayed at home."

I glanced at Zero, who had a small, nostalgic smile on his face. "I'm guessing you went?"

"Of course," He said, a melancholy glint in his eyes. "They were the best when you were a kid. Always had so much fun, and we could practically get away with murder."

"Sounds like the sort of thing you'd be interested in."

Zero childishly stuck his tongue out at the brunette. "You missed out on a lot."

Ichii gave a little shrug. "I guess I kinda regret it. But it's in the past, nothing I can do about it now."

Zero hummed a quiet acknowledgement. We walked on in silence for a little while, Zero seemingly caught in his own little world. Flushing slightly, the bluenette angled his head away. "Well... Maybe a little." He allowed, self-consciously scratching the back of his neck.

"A little what?" Ichii prompted, feigning innocence despite Zero's sharp glare.

"Maybe... I miss Jeff a little." The boy mumbled, then marched on a head when I cooed loudly and Ichii failed to hide his semi-victorious smirk.

"Ah- Wait!" I called after him, on behalf of both of us. Zero slowed, reluctantly, and allowed us to catch up. "I'm sorry," I said, as sincerely as I could manage, elbowing Ichii sharply in the side when he didn't immediately follow suit. The brunette grumbled quietly, before echoing my apology, his smirk wider than before.

It looked as though they were going to start arguing, or more accurately, it looked as though Zero was going to lose his temper and start yelling, while Ichii tired his hardest not to laugh, so I spoke quietly- more to myself than anything- before the situation could escalate from playful teasing to a full-blown fight.

"You miss them..." Mildly surprised, both boys snapped questioning gazes to me. "You should go see them."

"We can't do that." Ichii said, almost instantly.

Not even missing a beat, Zero nodded in agreement. "Yeah, we can't leave you all alone."

"Why not?" I asked, more curious than annoyed. "The Crystal Pearl isn't inside my body any more, so it's not like I'm in danger. Besides, I have Pearl to keep me company." I tickled the little dragon under his chin.

They blinked. It was a fair point.

Ichii gave the bluenette a long sideways glance, his hesitance obvious. "Well... it wouldn't hurt... I mean, we have to take Zura home anyway, he's got a little job of his own now..."

"Maybe for a couple of days?"

"A week at most." Ichii said, and Zero seemed satisfied with that.

"Yeah, a week sounds good. Wouldn't be gone too long that way."

"We don't have to go at all, though," Ichii added, suddenly, and Zero was quick to nod to that, too.

"Yeah, we can stay here if you want."

"It wouldn't be any trouble."

"No trouble at all." Zero echoed.

Smiling, I clamped my hands over their mouths, stopping both boys in their tracks. "Go." I instructed, firmly. "Be with your family. I'll be fine here with Pearl, I promise."

"Yeah!" The little dragon whispered, as not to attract unwanted attention, affectionately nuzzling his head into my neck. "I'll look after her, don't worry."

Ichii's lips gave a delighted little curve that lit up his whole face. "Thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?" I asked, bemused. "It's not like I need to give you permission. I don't own either of you, after all. You deserve to visit your family just as much as I do."

"True," Ichii agreed, using a gloved hand- a gift from me- to brush a stray leaf from his shoulder.

"I'll bring you back a present," Zero said, decisively. "A real nice one."

"You don't have to-"

"I want to." There was a stubbornness in his vice that wouldn't be swayed. "There's lots of cool stuff in our world, trust me."

I nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Zero. I'd like that."

* * *

 **A/N: An extra long chapter to make up for the long wait. Life is so hectic at the moment, it's been a task just finishing this chapter. Parts of it I've had written for weeks, which is what annoys me the most.**

 **Well, this chapter marks the conclusion of that arc.**

 **I will actually be continuing with the Manga, but most likely will not have a chapter out for a while, considering I have exams very soon.**

 **I really hope you all enjoy reading this and any feedback would be greatly appreciated.**


	29. Hikari Is Honestly Feeling So Attacked

The monster crawled up relentlessly. Kei face-palmed as my foot was sucked into the powdery depths. Ayumi could only stare on in horror as I sank in up to my knees. Thigh-deep, I clutched my hand over my heart, over-dramatically reciting a soliloquy the two girls had head at least five times already.

A vein at Kei's temple twitched. Staring dubiously at the snow drift I was stuck in, she looked as though she was debating whether it was enough snow to suffocate her.

It was, but she didn't need to know that.

Ayumi only rolled her eyes and nudged her, extending a hand towards me. Due to their combined efforts, I was freed from my prison fairly quickly. Unfortunately, snow had pooled into my boots, freezing my feet. I stamped them a couple of times, in a futile attempt to warm them, then stared pitifully at my friends.

"Don't give me that look." Kei said, with a light chuckle. "It's your fault for not paying attention."

"So mean, Kei." She deftly ignored the way my bottom lip protruded in a semi-pout.

Ayumi rubbed her bare hands together, giving a little shiver. "Let's get you home quickly, alright? Don't want you getting sick."

"That's probably a good idea." I agreed, for a moment captivated by the plumes of vapour dancing in the air as we breathed. "Feels like my toes are going to fall off."

We pressed on, cautiously picking our way through the heavier sections, the taller Kei charging forwards to braze a path for me to follow. Thoughtful as they were, neither of my friends laughed at the hop, skip and a jump routine I implemented to place my feet in the indents Kei left in her wake.

Being Winter, it was freezing. Like crawl-into-a-hole-and-die worthy temperatures. Those brave enough to venture outside had the foresight to wrap in sixteen different layers of clothing to avoid the biting chill, giving off a cute, teddy-bear like appearance. And although the sky was cloudless, a rarity, I assure you, the wane sunlight did nothing to provide suitable warmth.

The sharp trill of birdsong rang out. Little did I know, it was a warning. My head had automatically whipped to the side to locate the owner of the melody, hopeful to spot a robin. Just a step away, Kei and Ayumi were chatting happily.

The next thing I knew I was tumbling forwards, a sudden weight on my back throwing me to my knees. In theory, I supposed that I should have been accustomed to surprise attacks by now. San always displayed a tendency to tackle me randomly, after all. Not to mention how Rokka could pop out of literally _nowhere_ without even the slightest warning. Too bad it didn't work that way in reality.

At my startled squeak, Kei immediately whipped around. With a demonic glare that promised death, the girl prepared to unleash her wrath upon my apparent attacker.

Until she noticed the bright blue hair.

In all fairness, it was pretty hard to miss.

She pulled the punch successfully, merely blinking down at us, utterly unamused. "You know, your life is a damn circus. Sometimes I regret talking to you."

From the moment the _mystery_ person used an outstretched hand to soften our descent to the ground, I knew there was nothing to fear. So it came to no surprise when the arms affectionately squeezing me tightened just the slightest amount. "The feeling's mutual, don't worry." A familiar, cheeky voice replied.

He was warm, I noticed, absently. Zero seemed to radiate a pleasant heat that warmed me to the very core. Smiling stupidly, I teased a stray blue lock, observing how content he seemed, with his eyes loosely closed.

My gaze shifted towards the movement at my side.

Ichii had finally caught up, cheeks flushed pink from the cold.

"Welcome back!" I exclaimed, tapping Zero's hand to be released. He did so, reluctantly, as if he wasn't especially eager to let go.

"It's good to be back." Ichii replied, and while he was distracted with waving at Kei and Ayumi, I threw myself into his arms. Together, we fell backwards into a pile of snow, the powder softening our landing considerably. Recovering from the sudden hug-attack, he merely laughed and returned my embrace just as enthusiastically.

"Have you grown taller?" I asked, against his broad shoulder.

"I think you've just gotten smaller." The brunette teased, tweaking my nose.

"I am _funsized._ "

"True."

Planted firmly in his lap, I swatted playfully at his hand, then set to work affectionately flattening his windswept hair. He looked so relaxed as he leant against me, eyes half lidded. Those ochre orbs flickered upon hearing the commotion behind us. Zero and Kei were play fighting, as usual, flicking lumps of snow at each other while poor Ayumi ducked for cover.

"There they go again," Ichii chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"What did you expect?" I asked, reasonably amused. While the two had resorted to lobbing snowballs, I returned my attention to brunette, beaming. "How was your trip?"

Ichii smiled, glowing with happiness. His gloved hands were clasping my bare ones, warm fabric gliding in circles over my skin to provide warmth. "Excellent. It was great to see Sarasa and Jeff again."

"We had a lot of fun!" Zero agreed, from a couple of metres away. "... Didn't realise how much I missed the place 'til I was back." And then he promptly face-planted a mound of snow as a Kei pelted him with a snowball.

"I'm glad you went," I said, sincerely.

"So am I."

Glaring up at Kei, Zero shook as much of the snow from his hair as he could, then turned to address me. "I've got something for you," Eyes darting to the two grinning girls, he added a hasty, "Later."

I nodded, satisfied, before saying, "You know, you didn't have to come back this early."

"There's no way we could've stayed there any longer. Missed you way too much," That was my turn to flush. Ichii jerked his thumb in Zero's direction, who was deliberately looking anywhere but me. "Especially that idiot. He wanted to call you every day to make sure you were alright."

" _Did not!"_ The bluenette exploded, noticeably embarrassed.

Kei looked like a cat who had just caught a mouse. She wore an evil grin at this development that had Zero's eyes widening with horror. He immediately threw a snowball at her, and the game commenced.

"It was weird not having you around," I admitted.

Ichii shook his head. "Hope we took the crazy with us?"

" _Well_..." I intoned, and we burst into laughter. "Pretty much. Oh! Pearl missed you, too," I added, lowly. "Constantly asked when you were both coming home. It was adorable! He's especially attached to you, Ichii."

"I'm honoured. Where is Pearl, anyway?"

"At home. He wanted to come, of course, but I was worried about him being out in the cold." I grimaced a little sheepishly. "That, and I didn't expect you guys to rock up so early."

"My bad," He said, smirking. "Zero was being intolerably impatient."

"As usual."

"Hey!" Zero protested, leaving Kei to come and rest his chin on my head. I poked one of the arms dangling over my shoulders, not even questioning how he could possibly find it comfortable. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

The silence that followed was answer enough.

"Wow," Zero said, dryly. "Thanks for the support, guys."

Ichii was absently playing with my hair. He didn't seem to be all there, but at the same time, appeared to be at peace. Cocking my head, I studied the brunette intensely. "... What?" I asked, skeptically. Ichii merely blinked innocently back at me. "You're not telling me something."

His gaze moved over my shoulder, to where Zero was still leaning. That glance couldn't have been more obvious if they tried.

Ichii bit his lip, his face softening into a more heartfelt, delighted expression."Sarasa," He paused, emotional, appearing sweet and uncertain and so, so elated. "Is pregnant. She's going to have a baby."

"We're going to be uncles." I'd never seen Zero look so excited before.

So, what could I do but throw my arms around their necks and hug them close, too happy for words.

* * *

After parting with my two friends, the three of us headed back home in high spirits. The two boys quickly realised I was struggling to maneuver myself to keep with their pace, and slowed, before Ichii offered up his back.

I refused, embarrassed, but Zero gave me no choice. Which is why I currently found myself being piggybacked the rest of the way, cheeks puffed with annoyance, glaring daggers at Zero, who was whistling innocently as if he hadn't just caused my suffering.

Thankfully, we didn't pass too many people, and those that we did thought we were _absolutely adorable._

On the other hand, Zero did keep complaining about feeling as though we were being watched. Ichii gave him the benefit of the doubt, but mused that the bluenette must still be feeling paranoid, something which clearly irritated him.

Reaching my house, Zero nonchalantly snagged my keys from my pocket and unlocked the door, waltzing in as if he owned the place. Ichii followed in afterwards, still carrying me- much to my exasperation- and gently kicked the door shut behind him. Zero was almost immediately ambushed by an incredibly enthusiastic kitten, his face lighting up with glee at Tabby's unexpected appearance.

My feet touched the ground with a controlled pat, Ichii ruffling my hair in response to my gratitude, watching with amusement as I pried the clinging kitten off Zero.

Tabby, of course, mewled sorrowfully, but I ignored her guilt tripping and followed the boys upstairs after we'd all kicked our boots off, me leaving mine at the door. Zero flung the door open to their unit and instantly threw himself at his bed. Both I and Ichii watched him bounce and fall back down with a content sigh.

"I'm home!" He breathed, snuggling into his pillow.

Ichii blinked thrice, then snapped his head round to look at me. I was gaping at Zero. The instant the bluenette glanced back up at us, cheeks flushed with joy, we had struck the most inconspicuous poses possible (read: The most ridiculous, highly suspicious, difficult to maintain positions we could ever think of).

A moment later, Pearl burst through the door and pounced on Ichii, perfectly distracting us all.

"You're back!" He cheered, nuzzling his head against the brunette's cheek.

Ichii chuckled, tickling the little dragon under his chin. "Yeah, we're back."

We played video games for the rest of the afternoon, huddled together with a bundle of blankets and a constant supply of hot cocoa to keep us warm.

Everything was perfect.

When my mother arrived home, Ichii and Zero snuck downstairs while she was messing around in the pantry. The brunette grabbed a newspaper, spread himself lazily across the couch, and grinned when I gave him a thumbs up. Zero, on the other hand, sprinted into the kitchen, threw himself down on his side and raised one leg in the air ever so casually.

Upon seeing Zero, my mother became a whole new level of excited, instantly tearing through the rooms to locate Ichii once she'd sufficiently suffocated the bluenette in a hug.

Both boys had dinner with us, though I was the only one to notice them slipping food to Pearl, who would zip between them under the table and hide himself in Ichii's jacket to avoid a prowling Tabby.

Once they'd "returned home" (read: pretended to leave, then parkoured back through my window), we watched a customary Christmas movie, ignoring Zero's rare complaints at how cliche it was, before finally parting ways to get ready for bed.

Snuggled under my covers, I absolutely beamed.

 _Best day ever._

* * *

Something hard and sharp dug harshly into my skin, roughly jerking me from my otherwise pleasant dream. Grabbed by my ankle, I was yanked off the bed, hitting the floor with a solid thump.

Drowsy and only half conscious, I struggled to focus on the figure. The shadows clung to them like a cloak, and they reached out towards me with thin, spindly fingers like the raked branches of the trees outside. Briefly, it reminded me of the iconic scene in the BFG, when the eponymous character is reaching through the window to snatch up little Sophie. But this person was not as big, nor did they seem especially friendly. There was a dark, malicious aura they emitted, almost like body heat, that had my heart thumping wildly in my chest.

My first reaction was to scream.

Zero and Ichii had drilled that into my head countless times: _Scream, scream as loud as you can and we'll come running to protect you._

Despite that, I choked it back, forcing myself to hold in my fear. I had to stay quiet. There was no way in Hell I could mix my mother up in this mess. Scrambling wildly, I swept up my tactical pen from the bedside table, raining down a frenzied assault as those fingers snapped tightly around my arm.

They snarled, the sound emanating from deep within their throat. Feral, like a wild animal, I flinched, swallowed and continued to strike, yet their vice like grip did not lessen even the slightest. The carpet seared my skin as I was pulled several feet across the ground, the shirt riding high up my stomach. Aiming for the legs, and knees, they stumbled and I took the opportunity to twist sharply out of their grasp.

Finally free, I struck out mercilessly, thanking high heaven that there was a pointed nib on the lid precisely for the purpose of slamming it into every pressure point available. Swinging again and a again and again, I continued until they slipped back just enough to satisfy my raging adrenaline.

Chest heaving, I backed up a step, eyeing them warily. For a moment, I thought they were leaving, but in an instant they were approaching once more. I retreated, half-stumbling as they flanked my right side.

With a sudden flash of panic, I realised they were backing me into a corner and instead held my ground, snatching up my alarm clock and flying at the dark shape, slamming it into their head with all my might. Horror spiralled in the pit of my stomach when I heard a sharp hiss of pain, but I didn't relent. Again and again, I used the blunt object to strike out at the unwanted visitor.

That was, of course, until it was knocked roughly from my hand.

Gasping, I ducked low and barely managed to avoid a retaliation blow that likely would have knocked me flat on my ass. _Holy crap- they're strong!_ The followed relentlessly, foam practically bubbling at their mouth, baying for my blood.

 _I'm in way over my head!_

My eyes prickled.

Tears welled up, thick and fast. Taking a shaky breath, I forced them back down and ducked again, barely avoiding teetering back into the wall.

My next slash hit the target and elicited a furious cry from the figure.

The tip was slick and wet.

I'd drawn blood.

The thought almost made me gag. But they were in _my_ room, they were attacking _me_. I pushed forward, ignoring my conscience, fighting for my life. Launching into my next barrage of attacks, I hoped that my frenzy would leave the figure with no room to try and gain the upper hand.

A palm to my chest had me tumbling backwards. I caught the wall to stop my descent, warding them off with a kick that snapped centimetres from their face.

"Leave!" I instructed, my shaking voice betraying the firm, unyielding attitude I had been intending to adopt. "Get out of here, now!"

They refused to listen, and closed in once more.

Squeezing my fists tightly, I backed away. And then everything fell away, a horribly yanking sensation present on my navel as I slipped, hitting the ground hard. Immediately I rolled under my bed, holding my breath.

The second I noticed movement edging closer, my hand shot out. Hooked around their leg, I pulled as hard as they could, watching with sick satisfaction as they crashed down to the ground, giving me enough time to crawl out and beat my fists against them with as much strength as I could muster.

My knee was pressed deep into their stomach, pinning them down as I hit them over and over. Raggedly, I began to whisper frantic pleas for them to _leave just leave get out leave me alone I'm scared what do you want from me?_ Briefly, they grappled with me, but couldn't keep a firm grip on my erratic limbs. Relenting, they threw up their hands to defend themselves, strong forearms blocking the majority of my attacks.

My breathing was no more than desperate little gasps, and I was trembling all over.

The fighting commenced, full force so suddenly I froze in surprise.

Taking advantage of my shock, a strong hand closed around my wrist. I blinked. Then I pressed the pen point into their throat. "Let go."

Snarled. I _snarled._ I hadn't felt quite that viscous in a long, long time. After a long moment, they did as I instructed, and I could relax.

Suddenly, they thrust their hips up and dislodged me. The pen went flying. The figure was up, retreating. The curtains billowed in their wake, door hanging ajar, creaking eerily from their sudden, unexpected departure.

Shaking all over, I hugged my arms tightly around my body, trying and failing to take calming breaths.

It took approximately 2.5 seconds for me to abandon any thoughts of staying quiet, the tears already falling freely as I stumbled blindly towards the cabinet door. There was a resounding crash as I entered the boy's unit, far too hysterical to knock. The noise woke Zero instantly, who sleepily shaking his hair out of his face and squinting through the darkness at me.

By that point, I'd already subsided into helpless little sobs. Within a second Zero launched himself forward, crushing me against his chest in a massive hug, Pearl only a second behind, curling himself around my neck.

Ichii was slower.

The brunette had always struggled with rising, hence the ridiculous amount of coffee needed for him to become alert. Propped up on his elbows, blinking blearily out, I would've thought he looked the epitome of adorable if I hadn't been so terrified.

"Hikari?" His voice was low, tingly, husky from sleep. It took a long, tense moment for him to process everything, but very quickly he was flinging back his blankets with just as much vigour, using Zero's shoulder to catch himself when he stumbled.

Both boys were content to stand there, half-naked and shivering in the dead of night, holding me tenderly until I'd managed to stop crying.

The brunette was the first to pull away. Head bowed, his warm, big hands cupped my cheeks, fingers brushing against my cheekbones as he wiped away lingering tears. Zero still hadn't let go of me. His hand remained tangled together with mine, applying pressure every so often, a sa silent support which I was greatly appreciative of.

"You're safe now." Ichii assured, his soft voice holding such sweetness it almost induced a fresh waves of tears. Zero squeezed my hand in agreement, and Pearl, the precious little angel, affectionately nuzzled his little head against my jaw.

I tickled the little dragon under his chin. He didn't react as he usually did. Now, he paused and wrinkled up his little nose. "Hikari, was someone else with you just now?"

Ichii froze. "What are you talking about, Pearl?"

Confused, Pearl blinked, looking from me to Ichii, then back again. "There's this funny scent all over her. It's recent. Can't you smell it, too?"

"This scent…" Zero began, barely managing to keep calm. "Is it coming from anywhere else?"

Pearl, apparently not sensing the incoming danger, said, "Her room. It's really strong in there!" Frowning, the dragon's tail thrashed softly as he peered at me. "Who was it? I don't recognise that smell at all."

Ichii began to rub very gentle circles over my back to soothe me. He must have noticed how I'd started shaking again. "Hikari? Is... that why you were crying?"

Trembling weakly, I explained everything to them.

They listened, half horrified, half furious, as I explained how the figure had attempted to drag me from my bed and the heated battle that ensued. There was an underlying respect that flashed in Zero's electric blue orbs upon hearing the details of my struggle, mixed with a pure, apoplectic flash of the brightest, bluest hue encircling his iris. Sometime during the talk, dark, angry flames began curling over his knuckles, cracking ominously, slowly snaking up his arms. He'd scowled at his fist for a couple of seconds, giving it a futile little shake, but seemed unable to extinguish them.

There was no doubt about it.

Zero had traversed passed _pissed off_ and settled very comfortable on _absolutely livid._

Even Ichii's usually mellow ochre orbs were smouldering as he flicked on the lights and surveyed the mess of my room. The curtains still swayed gently, seemingly more calm now that the danger had passed. Zero closed the door and shoved the locks home much harder than necessary, scanning the area for any immediate danger. Evidently, he found none, as the tight, tense bunch of his shoulders loosened somewhat.

"Don't worry," Pearl whispered protectively, from his perch on my shoulder. "I'll burn anyone who tries to hurt you."

I managed a weak smile, and gently patted his head. "Thank you, Pearl."

Ichii's butterfly touch barely graced my faintly throbbing skin, his fingertip delicately tracing the swollen red indents that each whippet thin digit had inflicted. "Does it hurt?" He breathed, brimming with concern.

"A little," I admitted, in a hushed voice. "But I can manage."

Zero was shaking in silent fury. His flames flickered dangerously. " _They put their hands on you!_?"

I flinched into Ichii's side. The brunette replied for me, after a shuddering breath, "Would've done a lot worse, I can imagine, if she hadn't been able to fight back."

"I'll kill them, I swear I will."

"That makes two of us."

Zero snapped around to Pearl. "Can you track their scent?"

The little dragon wrinkled his nose, sniffing the air experimentally. "Maybe," he replied, a little dubiously. "It's weird. Their scent was muffled to begin with, but now it's disappearing like it's being erased."

Ichii managed to somewhat placate Zero with a few choice words and a fond clap on the shoulder.

The bluenette sighed, only relaxing somewhat. "You should try to get some sleep." Zero said with a yawn, giving my head a couple of affectionate pats, the flames causing a pleasant warmth to ignite in my chest.

I nodded wearily, carefully handing Pearl to the Ichii- the little dragon protested wildly at that- and reluctantly climbed into bed, biting back my childish pleas for them not leave me.

"We should do the same." Ichii headed back towards their unit, Pearl tucked comfortably against his chest. Zero, however, remained exactly where he was, even when Ichii observed him with a confused tilt of his head. "Zero? Come on, let's go back to bed."

Zero stubbornly shook his head, using his shirt to wipe away the blood staining my tactical pen, which he returned to his rightful place at my bedside. "No way," He growled, and the fire danced wildly for a moment. "I'm staying here. Who knows if that bastard will try to snatch her again?"

Ichii's lips curved up in a soft, knowing motion. He made a small noise of understanding, before allowing his gaze to dart to me. "Is that okay with you, Hikari?" I nodded with a little more enthusiasm than I probably should have. By then, Zero had successfully extinguished his flames.

"I want to stay, too!" Pearl exclaimed, attempting to wriggle out of Ichii's hands.

I slowly shook my head, smiling softly at him. "It's alright, Pearl. I'll be fine with Zero here."

Pearl frowned but reluctantly quietened down. Ichii affectionately stroked him behind his horn. "Alright, then. I'll see you two in the morning."

We echoed a jumbled chorus of 'Goodnight' as Ichii switched off the lights, plunging the room into darkness. My heart constricted with fear, nerves igniting with a sudden flash. I instantly sought out Zero, who had tucked himself up on the floor with a couple of spare blankets and a pillow.

"Zero?" I called out, desperately.

"I'm right here." A pause. "I'm not going anywhere."

I steeled myself with a deep breath. "Um... Z-Zero?" He mumbled a quiet acknowledgement. "The floor... It can't be too comfortable.. Y-You can sleep up here... I-If you'd like..."

Small flames flickered to life in the palm of his hand, gently illuminating his face. "Don't worry about me, Hikari. The floor's comfortable." He smiled reassuringly, wiggling his feet under the blanket. When my expression didn't change, Zero became uncertain, his brows pinching together. "Is something wrong?"

"U-Uh... Yeah..." I ducked my head, flushing brightly. "I... I'm scared... I don't want to be alone..."

He hesitated, all confidence lost. "You really want me up there with you?"

"P-Please, Zero."

With a short nod, he'd clenched his fist, surrounding us in darkness once more.

The bed dipped. He swung his leg over me painstakingly slowly, as if I would shatter if he suddenly touched me, settling down on the side closest to the door the attacker had escaped from. I snuggled closer, seeking his comfort. He stiffened, all awkward and unsure of himself. "Are you... sure about this?" He asked, swallowing thickly.

 _Is he... embarrassed?_

"Y-Yeah... It's selfish but... can you stay up here? With... me?"

"'Course I can." It was an accomplishment for Zero to manage to tweak my nose without taking an eye out. "Sleep." He instructed, softly pressing a kiss to my forehead.

I blushed, but he seemed semi-conscious, and not a minute later, was sleeping peacefully.

I, on the other hand, didn't have that luxury.

Every time I even so much as attempted to close my eyes, my mind flashed back to it, replying every moment with blow-by-blow precision. Eventually, I gave up on sleep. At some point in the night, Zero had curled close, an arm thrown lazily over my side. It took a lot of effort to slide underneath without waking him- it was obvious the placement was deliberate, intended to wake him if I was dragged out again.

The unit seemed unusually quiet as I slipped into the room, the only sound being Ichii's soft, steady breathing.

Determinedly, I headed for the cellar, switching on the lights as I passed them. They blinked on after a short moment, bathing the room in a golden glow.

Pyjama shirt discarded on the floor, clad in a sports bra and shorts, I pummelled the punching bag with all my power. It swung ever so slightly like a pendulum from my blows, yet it did not match the explosive power Ichii possessed. On an especially taxing day, the brunette boy had retreated down here to blow off steam, unleashing all his fury on the bag. I myself had been up on the balance beam, but after a while I could only watch in awe.

After ten minutes, I had worked up quite a sweat, yet I didn't relent.

 _Hands on my body-_

The bag took another beating.

 _Pinned on the floor-_

Shaking my head, my leg snapped out in a powerful kick.

 _Utterly useless-_

More punches and kicks, with ragged panting and curses sprayed in between.

 _Why was it so difficult?_

The blows turned sluggish,

 _Why couldn't I fight them off?_

Frenzied,

 _I've been trained for this!_

Inaccurate,

 _I should have been able to-_

"Hey." My gaze darted to the door, where Zero was leaning. His hair was a unkempt, still a mess from bed, clothes rumpled cheerfully. Those blue eyes gleamed with worry. He approached much like he would a frightened dog. "That's enough, you hear? You're hurting yourself."

I opened my mouth to protest. His touch was feather-light, gracing over my hands, stealing my breath away. The skin was red, swollen, tinting into bruising. The flat of my foot was exactly the same.

"I… I don't feel it."

"You're a real handful." He sighed, and led me by the hand into the bathroom, cleaning the small abrasions and applying a cold compress to the forming bruises.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep."

Zero waved my apology away with a weary smile. "Thought as much. Next time you go for a wander, though, would you mind waking me up? You almost gave me a heart attack, I thought you'd been grabbed again, right under my nose, too."

"Ah, yeah… Were you really worried?"

"Of course. Don't do it again, understand? " His finger wagged scoldingly. "You're lucky I didn't get Ichii, he would've _flipped._ You might not have seen it, but he's angrier than I was."

I frowned. "Really? That's hard to believe, Ichii seemed fairly calm."

"That's where you're wrong." Zero raked a hand through his hair, slumping forward somewhat. "There's a new dent in the training room wall. Idiot must have had the same idea as you, and switched to the wall when he decided the punching bag wasn't enough to satisfy him."

"Should we check on him?"

He shook his head, shaggy hair bouncing. "No, leave him be. Knowing him, he's got it treated with sixteen different antiseptics and'll use magic to hide the bandages tomorrow."

I made an acknowledging mumble, and looked up at him from where I was seated on the toilet seat, and my eyes were hot and bright, and moisture was beaded across my upper lip. My hands clutched my thighs as I swallowed. "Zero?"

"Yeah?"

"How scared have you ever been?"

After a moment of intense contemplation, he sat on the floor, directly in front of me, and crossed his legs beneath him. "Very." From my unhappy expression, he could tell I was clearly waiting for a better answer. He rocked for a bit, thinking some more. "Look, I'd give anything not to be afraid. But then there's your suicide attempt at stalling the dragon, or Tomi threatening to kill Ichii and I just-"

"I get it."

"Sometimes it's so bad I can't think. I can't move. It's paralyzing." A sigh, and then he softened once more. "This about what happened earlier?"

I looked down. "Something like that."

"Still scared?"

"Terrified, more like. Zero, I was practically _useless._ "

"I don't believe that for a second. You fought them off, successfully, all on your own. What part of that makes you useless?"

"You don't understand-"

"What?" He interrupted, roughly. "You think because you relied on the tactical pen, because you couldn't bust some fancy moves that it makes you useless?" I bit my lip, refusing to meet his gaze. "That's bullshit, Hikari. You _won._ How you did so is irrelevant. You didn't even need our help to protect yourself."

"I guess…"

"What's wrong?"

"I'm still afraid… What if they come back? What if I can't stop them this time?"

"You know, I think that in a way, it's good. If you weren't afraid, it would mean you didn't care, right? You have something you treasure here, and you fought not to be taken from it." The compress was moved. Zero inspected my hand for a long moment. "That's looking a lot better, I think it'll be alright. I doubt you'll be sleep tonight, so let's go."

Zero guided me to my feet and out the door. "Where are we going?"

"To spar." He had a boyishly cheeky grin. "I'm going to teach you a couple of tricks I've been holding back."

I beamed.

Four hours later had a frantic Ichii bursting into the room and tackling the both of us in a hug the moment he laid eyes on us.

And then chewing Zero out for at least half an hour for not leaving a note.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally, right? It took alarmingly long to complete this chapter. Surprisingly, I'd had the attack part written for about four months or so. I hadn't realised how fast paced this damn Manga is! *Cue mass hysteria upon realising the new 'villains' were introduced almost straight away***

 **Anyway, I'm taking to writing outlines for upcoming chapters. I've got the next one all set out, so as long as college doesn't get in the way, it shouldn't take this long to write and post it.**

 **Many thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it, and any feedback/constructive criticism is welcomed.**


	30. Let The Poor Cinnamon Roll Rest

Ichii was breathing steadily somewhere to my side, chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm. He was sprawled on the bed, eyes closed, lashes a stark contrast against his skin. Unlike usual, he didn't stir at the slightest noise. It was so refreshing to see him so relaxed, at peace, compared to the weight he was carrying before. My heart warmed to see him so carefree.

I, myself had my head resting comfortably on Zero's lap, body curled in close to the blue-haired boy, seeking his warmth. Perfectly content to allow me to doze, Zero's attention didn't waver from his game, though he deliberately reeled in his usual jerky movements and excessive cursing as not to disturb either of us.

"You should rest." I mumbled drowsily, fingers fiddling with the bracelet Zero had finally presented me with early this morning, a present from the Magical World.

Absently, his hand dropped down to pat my head. "I'll be fine."

I acknowledged this with a little hum, yet still concerned, I continued to protest. "You'll be tired later."

"Look who's talking."

"M'not that bad."

"You're practically sleeptalking." I pouted, yet couldn't deny that. "Look, I caught a couple of z's while you were busy beating the poor punching bag half to death. I can handle being up for a couple more hours."

My pout remained, still fiercely intense.

He paused his game, and entertained himself by repeatedly flicking my ponytail over my shoulder. "You're like a cat."

"Meow." He purred back, with every ounce of cheekiness he possessed.

We collapsed into giggles, with me lightly punching his shoulder. Once our laughter subsided, I became serious once more. "Would you do it for me?"

He could never resist the puppy-dog-eyes.

"Fine, fine. Once Ichii wakes up, I'll sleep. But no earlier than that, you hear?" His voice lowered darkly. "Someone's gotta keep watch, after all."

Smothering a yawn, I mumbled an incoherent agreement, settling further down on his lap. He straightened my hair out with gentle fingers, prodding a slender digit into my cheek. "Sleep."

"M'kay."

"I got you." Those three words were filled with such uncomparable sweetness. "Nothing's going to happen with me here."

"Thank you."

He remained perfectly still until he was certain I was comfortable, then resumed his game, very deliberately turning down the volume even more.

Thinking about it, Zero had been far more attentive since the whole scare last night. He followed me everywhere, but not at a smothering distance. Evidently he just had an incessant need to have me in his sights at all times, which was understandable, considering all that had happened.

With that, the blue haired boy seemed to be noticing things he otherwise would have overlooked. Normally Zero wouldn't be so forceful about resting, merely shrugging it off as our own fault if we're dead on our feet, yet today he threatened arson, murder and the end of the world should we refuse.

And then there was his utter nonchalance about me using him as a pillow.

Not that Zero wasn't affectionate, because he'd become increasingly so over the time I'd known him. It was just that snuggling wasn't something I'd necessarily think he'd like. Ichii, sure. He was a cuddle bug the instant you gave him the chance, but not Zero. The younger boy was more fond of hair ruffles and casual leaning, with the occasional hand-holding in especially emotional situations. The only subversion was after being parted. He was perfectly happy to tackle me into the snow then.

The solution to this great mystery, I assumed, was that, just like me, he needed to be reassured by physically feeling the presence of another person.

"Is this okay?"

The tip of his tongue was poking out the corner of his mouth. I had to bite back any and all reaction to his adorableness. His concentrating face was the cutest thing I'd seen to date. "What'd you mean?"

"Should we… be doing something?" Peeking up through my hair, my lips were pursed in thought.

"Like?" He prompted, with alarming patience.

"Um. I don't know… But we got attacked, so-"

" _You_ got attacked." He corrected. "There's a difference. S'why we're itching to blast the bastard straight into Hell."

"Yeah… that." My fingers absently pulled at the hem of his shirt. "Should… we being doing something about that? Like… finding them or trying to get the house safe… I mean, is this okay?"

"Course it is." He assured, without missing a beat. "Ichii's our wards master, so letting him rest up is best right now. He'll secure the house once his energy's back." There was a pregnant silence in which Zero dissected the his next words with the utmost care. "No matter how pissed I am, I'm not gonna go out and search for them. S'more important to stay here with you. So yeah, this is okay. Scratch that, it's _great_."

" _This is not great!"_

A split second of heat flared across my skin.

I blinked.

Zero expertly diverted Pearl's flames towards his hand, blowing them out like a candle. "That was rude." He scolded, shaking his head at the little dragon. "Don't go breathing fire when they're sleeping, idiot." The two instantly engaged a volley of insults.

Ichii's eyes fluttered open. He mumbled something that must have intended to be " _What's going on?_ " but in reality was far from it.

Zero still understood him, regardless of his slurred words and the general commotion. "Pearl's throwing another tantrum."

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Displaying incredibly maturity, Zero stuck his tongue out at Pearl, smirking when Ichii sighed and dragged himself between them, before the argument could escalate further. "Cut it out, you two."

"Zero was being mean!" Pearl whined.

"You shouldn't be breathing fire at us like that, Pearl. It's not polite." Ichii reprimanded, lightly. Then he turned to the younger boy. "Zero, don't antagonise him, alright? Now behave, both of you."

"Fiiiiiine." They chorused, reluctantly.

Ichii rubbed the sleep from his eyes, pulling an object from his pocket. "Almost forgot. I've got a present for you, Pearl."

With slight difficulty, Ichii managed to secure the collar around Pearl's neck. "Oh, it looks good." My bright smile mirrored Ichii's.

"I'm not a pet." Pearl grumbled, more to himself than anything. It was obvious he was pleased with how it looked, so we took no notice.

"I'll set up some protective spells, then we can talk more about Pearl's little problem, okay?" We were all happy to agree.

While Ichii paced the room, muttering quietly under his breath, Zero and I made were content to watch. After we made ourselves comfortable with an abundance of blankets, the arms Zero draped loosely around my shoulders gently drew my back to rest against his chest, our legs tangling together in an unruly mess.

"Nap." he suggested, apparently noticing my sluggishness. "It'll take him a while to finish."

I nodded blearily, the security of his embrace already lulling me to sleep.

Some time later, their low mumbles roused me. I was greeted with an extra blanket, Tabby, and a drink, while a far livelier Ichii updated me on what had already been discussed. Which, from what it seemed, wasn't much. Ichii had enjoyed teasing Zero far too much for any serious talk to take place.

"So, to our knowledge, in order for Pearl to grow, he needs to feed off Hikari's magical power. Which, at the moment, she doesn't have."

"Right."

"So we need to find a way for you to gain power."

Excited, I perked up. "You mean like me doing magic and stuff? Like you guys?"

"Hopefully, yes."

"How'd you suggest we do that?" Zero questioned, frowning. "S'not like it's easy, you know."

Deep in thought, Ichii absently tapped his index finger against his chin. "Well… I once read a book about a special dragon that could impart revelations to a wizard…. Maybe if Pearl had the same ability, we could quickly find a solution?"

"Good idea. How's it sound, Pearl?"

"Let's do it now!" Zero agreed, enthusiastically. Pearl only blinked back from his perch, utterly speechless. "... What, can you not do it or something?"

"I… I can!"

"Great, go on then."

"Zero." Ichii cautioned, hesitantly. "He doesn't have to if he doesn't want to."

"No way! I'm the dragon who is probably the most powerful of all familiars. I can totally impart revelations!"

"Then show us."

"Fine!"

I traded a cautious look with Ichii, who looked set to step in at any moment. Pearl, bless his soul, was still trying desperately, when suddenly there was a sharp flash of light, and a perfect little ball hung suspended in the air.

"Is that… a revelation?"

Pearl's tail thrashed warily. "I have no idea."

Regardless, I took it anyway, inspecting it curiously. "Oh, there's writing on it."

Suitably awed, Zero peeked over my shoulder while I read aloud. "Your love luck is on your side tomorrow. You'll team up with the boy you're interested in, and your friends will acknowledge you as a couple…?" By now, the brunette was utterly bewildered. "Also, you could see a new side to a boy you may think of as just a friend. But cheating is a big no no! He might accidentally catch you with another boy. If you get the chance to be alone with him, aggressively attract his attention, you might progress into a mature relationship…"

"There's more." Zero reported, without missing a beat. "Apparently your Lucky Item is a Handkerchief, and Lucky Number is 7."

The brunette could barely reel is his facepalm. "I think this is more like a divination."

Affronted, Pearl barked back that it was most definitely a revelation, and the boy shouldn't doubt him. To save any more heated arguments, the boy conceded, distracting himself by playing with Tabby, who had become quite bored of being ignored.

Zero must've seen my regarding it with a hint of worry, for he reassuringly patted my head. "I doubt it'll come true."

"Yes it will! You'll see for yourself tomorrow!"

Zero only rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Ichii, is the house secure?"

"Should be. We'll know the moment someone tries to slip in."

Relieved beyond belief, Zero was finally content to settle down and rest without further protest. I joined him not long later. Under Ichii's protective gaze, I couldn't have felt more safe.

* * *

"Hikari! Come on, we'll be late!"

Zero, who had already been on edge today, practically leapt forward as I leaned a little too far out of my window. "Okay! I'll be down in a sec!"

Hurtling down the stairs while pulling my hair into a messy ponytail, I collected my bag from my mother, rushing out to meet the boys, barely remembering to grab my handkerchief from the mantelpiece as I passed.

"Finally!"

"Sorry for keeping you, I couldn't find my homework."

Zero lightly rapped his knuckles against my head. "Idiot."

"We would've helped you look." Ichii's smile was soft, forgiving. He absently checked his watch, grimacing weakly. "We should run or we won't make it."

"Last one there gets called ugly for a week!"

Zero's words had barely stopped echoing before the three of us had charged forward, at exactly the same time. The wind, I noticed, was blowing strongly. Zero was in the lead, his unbuttoned jacket billowing behind him.

I was still gripping my handkerchief, observing it with a subtle tilt of my head. Even despite Zero's doubt, I'd brought it along anyway. Honestly, I wasn't even sure myself why I bothered.

The tip of my shoe caught on the ground. I pitched forward, hands outstretched. My startled cry was cut short, an arm around my middle stopping my rapid descent. It remained as a constant pressure, only retracting once I was steady. Returning Ichii's bright smile, he clapped his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Just tripped a little, I'm good now. Thank you."

"Let's go." Zero instructed, taking my bag from me.

"Ah, Zero-"

"I'll carry it." He swung it deftly over his shoulder, tone leaving no room for discussion. "Don't go falling for us again, kay?" And there he was again, all bravado and teasing.

I poked my tongue out at him, chiming "Like I would." before taking off running, because there was no way I would be called ugly for the whole week, goddamn it!

Both boys were several paces behind as I burst through the school gates, giggling uncontrollably. Hiro was ahead, watching me with an expression that made it clear that he thought I was certifiably insane. "Whatcha doing?" The green-eyed boy asked, jogging alongside me.

"In a race with Zero and Ichii." I explained, between pants.

"I take it you're winning?"

Behind, the two boys were playfully jostling each other, which cumulated in Zero springing a headlock on the older boy. "Yup."

Stifling a laugh, Hiro patted my back. "Good luck with that. I'll see you in the classroom."

I threw a distracted wave over my shoulder, because Zero and Ichii had finally remembered there was a third participant in this race and had began hunting me down.

I won in the end, mainly due to Zero mysteriously falling down somewhere on the first floor, Ichii whistling an inconspicuous tune and snatching up my bag as he passed. The brunette recieved the biggest glare in existence once he finally caught up, at which point I was already too far through the doorway for Zero to really do much.

Once seated, we began recovering from our little marathon, sipping water occasionally, me smirking victoriously the entire time.

"Looks like someone's ready for the athletic festival." Ayumi noted, from the seat beside me.

"Oh, that's today?"

She lightly smacked my head with her rolled up magazine. "Get your head out of the clouds for once, girl. Kei's been buzzing about this for literally the entire month!"

Sheepishly, I rubbed my neck. "Ah, of course. Can't believe I forgot."

Ayumi affectionately rolled her eyes. "What are we going to do with you?"

Before she could clarify that vastly wide spectrum of answers (One end ranging from murder all the way down the scale to complete worship) Kei had commanded the attention of the class. "As you all know, it's time for the Athletic Festival again. We're deciding boy-girl teams for the three legged race, so everyone pick a raffle!"

"She always gets excited about school events." I commented to Ayumi as we waited in line for our raffle, the both of us smiling as our enthusiastic friend bounced around.

"Yeah, she loves them." She pulled her ticket out, taking a quick glance. "I'm four. What'd you get?"

"... Seven." _My lucky number…?_ "Shall we go find our pairs?"

"No need." Ayumi was just barely holding back her amusement.

The next moment, I had been pulled in for a noogie, knuckles gently grinding against my head. I managed to squirm out with a little difficulty, glaring half-heartedly at Zero as I fixed my hair. "What'd Ichii tell you about that?"

He stuck his tongue out. "Spoilsport."

"What is it? You look like you're on a sugar rush."

"We're on the same team!" I smiled at his obvious excitement, returning his fist bump. "We gotta beat Ichii, okay?"

"Is this because you lost the race earlier?"

His ears turned a subtle shade of pink, a pout becoming noticeable from my teasing. "... No."

I took pity on the boy, and turned to Kei, Ayumi having wandered off to find who she'd matched up with. "Who's your pair?"

Her head snapped back round. She was grinning, hands cupped over her mouth, voice raised to a parade ground bellow. "Oi, Hanari, what's your number?"

"You already have it!"

"Are you an idiot?" Hiro honestly seemed to debate it, but simply shrugged in the end. "Your ticket number, moron!"

He _ooohed_ a long, two note candace, shooting a glance at the crumpled paper, before holding up three fingers. "You my partner?"

"Hell yeah I am." They traded a high five the instant both were in range. "Don't let me down, you hear?"

"Yes, ma'am." Hiro smiled goofily. "Looks like Ayumi's with Aki. Hika, you with Zero?" At my nod, his flashed Zero a stern look. "Don't go overboard."

Zero snapped his a salute, focusing back on Ichii, who had finally found his pair in the tentative form of Ai, who blinked up at the boy with innocent grey orbs. Ai looked so tiny against the already tall brunette, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Let's try our best." Ichii encouraged, sweetly. "I leave myself in your hands."

Ai nodded a little frantically. "Y-Yes. I'll be in your care."

Zero only snorted. "Can we go get ready? Can't look at them much longer, I'll get diabetes."

I rolled my eyes, scoldingly jabbing him in the side. Zero stifled his little whine, yet followed me down to the track, chatting absently.

After a couple of minutes, I could feel that something was off with the blue-haired boy. His smile, which had been bright and beaming, had disappeared completely, replaced by a thin, grim line, and his concentration frequently wavered as he glanced around, eyes narrowed warily.

"Zero…" I voiced, uncertainly. "Is everything okay?"

He was slow to focus back on my face, a troubled atmosphere plaguing him. "Y… Yeah." Normally so sure of himself, his lack of confidence had my pulse quickening.

"Are you sure? Do you sense something?"

Despite how nonchalant he must have thought he was being, I could tell Zero was looking directly over my head.

"Zero?"

"I dunno…" He managed, eventually. "Something just doesn't feel right."

"D'you think it's that person from before?" I could already feel myself panicking.

"Hey, hey, calm down, alright? I'm not picking up any traces of magic, 'cept Ichii's and Pearl's- troublemaker must've followed us here. S'just a weird feeling."

"Maybe we should tell Ichii."

"Was planning on it." Zero assured, patting my head. "Don't stress, it's probably nothing."

"Okay…" My hands were still twisting nervously, as I forced out a smile."

"Atta girl. I got your back, in any case."

"Yeah, thanks Zero. But... You-... You look really pale. Should we sit out the race?"

"No way!" He denied, immediately. "I'm fine, I promise." After a beat, something seemed to strike him. "Unless you want to?" I shook my head, frantically. He was finally smiling again, a weak, fleeting little thing.

Although Zero tried to assure me as best as he could, I was still worried. He was distracted, constantly looking around when he thought I wasn't paying attention. Ichii had lost his cheer, too, yet was hiding his distress far better, so that Ai wouldn't pick up on it.

As we lined up for a practise race, I was struck with the urge to persuade Zero to sit it out again. He was calm, methodical, strapping our legs together with the velcro binding. Jaw set determinedly, he smiled at me, but it came out as more of a grimace.

Swallowing down my protests, I steadied myself with an arm around his middle, nervously gripping a little harder than necessary. His anxiousness with finally getting to me, yet Zero seemed to interpret it as worries about the race.

"Inside legs first, okay?"

I nodded faintly, and then we were off, Zero abruptly having to change his pace to match my own. Having long lanky legs meant bigger strides which I couldn't keep pace with.

For a brief moment, I deluded myself into believing everything was fine. But Zero's ragged intake of breath had that notion collapsing quickly. Face pale, eyes wide, he suddenly looked very scared and very vulnerable.

Our speed increased. Dramatically. It was like he wanted this to be over and done with as soon as possible, all excitement from the competition crushed.

"Ah, Zero slow down." I murmured, struggling to keep up. "You're going too fast!"

He was muttering under his breath, more wild than I'd ever seen him. Suddenly, his head snapped to somewhere just over his right shoulder, as if seeing something there that no-one else could.

My breath caught in my throat.

Pain throbbed through my ankle. The next thing I knew, I was falling.

Falling.

Falling.

The velcro binding our feet sprang undone. The tension was too much, too late. While our legs were now free, I was still hurtling towards the ground. Zero, equally unbalanced, had pitched forward as well, arms outstretched to halt his descent. His right foot, still in the motion of walking, caught my jaw with a glancing blow. I tasted a metallic tang across my tongue.

We hit the ground mercilessly, at speed.

My unprotected knees took the brunt of the force, and I tumbled forward into a crumpled heap, upper body sprawled over Zero's legs.

Frozen with shock, the bluenette's brain had yet to compute the situation, leaving him gaping uselessly, not comprehending how he had gone from running to completely floored in less than two seconds.

Amidst the anxious shouting of classmates, Zero pushed himself into a sitting position, eyes ringed wide with surprise. "H-Hikari? Are you okay?"

Hand cupped over my mouth, I guiltily raised my head. "Uh… Yeah, I'm fine."

He noticed my defence, suspicion setting in. "Move your hand."

"W-Why?"

"I wanna see." Blunt. He was being so terrible blunt, but I could tell he was just scared. "Do it. Now."

Hesitantly, I lowered it into my lap, the palm smeared with crimson. Blood dribbled from my split lip, oozing down my chin. "It's not that bad." I attempted, flinching at how it irritated the wound.

"Holy _crap_."

"M'okay."

"Where else are you hurt?" I shook my head, lowering my gaze. "Hikari, _please._ "

Dejectedly, I gestured vaguely towards my bloody knees. "It... looks worse than it is." Sure the ravines were bleeding twice as normal as they should be, but it wasn't like I couldn't handle it… right?

"I'm taking you to the nurse." He waved away my protests, scooping me up like I was made of china. "No complaining, you hear? You need to get that looked at."

I relented, admitting defeat. He was careful, striding importantly through the crowd, which parted around him like the Red Sea. With a furious glare that promised death, Hiro made a very obvious slitting-throat gesture, Kei shaking her head at his side, equally venomous.

Zero made a little squeak that would've been adorable had I not been in pain, and he so concerned.

We made it to the Infirmary relatively undisturbed, where Zero settled me gently down on the bed and reluctantly allowed the nurse to see to my injuries, obediently collecting materials when asked. After a stern look from me, he even allowed her to check the slight grazes on his hands. After a quick wash, he was deemed fine, without even the need for any plasters.

Foot in his lap, Zero was holding the compress against my twisted ankle with alarming care. "Are you… okay?" He ventured, breaking the silence that had fallen.

"Mhm. It doesn't hurt too bad anymore."

"Good." There was definitely relief there.

After a little while, I couldn't stand his pitiful attitude anymore, and channeled my inner-Kei. "Wipe that kicked puppy expression off your face before I really do kick you." I ordered, bossily. "Ugh, and quit feeling all guilty, this atmosphere is so depressing, I can feel it slowly killing my insides."

"I can't help it." He mumbled back, head bowed. "This is my fault!"

I rolled my eyes, already impatient."So I got a little hurt. Big deal! It's not life-threatening, for god's sake. In a couple of days, it'll be like it never happened."

"But it _did."_

"So? No need for you to get all angsty about it. I'm not dead, or dying, so stop being a little drama princess and lighten the hell up. I swear, if you make me throw a lamp at you, I will not be happy."

He snorted half-heartedly at that, finally looking me in the eye. "Why not a drama queen?"

"You need a lot more practise before you can even think about trying to claim Ayumi's throne."

Zero was really laughing now, looking much more free than before. "You're not mad?"

I dropped the attitude, smiling brightly at the boy once more. "Of course not. Look, the one and only thing I'm mad about is that I'm going to have to lean on you two to get around, 'cause I don't like bothering you."

"We don't mind."

"I know, and I love you to bits for it, but still… You guys taught me to be more independent, so I kinda like it sometimes."

He acknowledged that with a little hum. "I'm really sorry. At least let me say that," he added, when I went to scold him. "I'll stop my little pity party, but I still get to apologise."

"Fine." I allowed, good-naturally. "And don't worry about the others, I'll make sure they don't kill you."

"Much appreciated. Really wasn't looking forward to such an early death." At my small gesture, he guided me to my feet, keeping a firm hold as I tested my weight on my injured ankle. "You good?"

"I'll survive."

"Want me to carry you back?"

"No, that's okay."

Halfway down the corridor, we were confronted with an entirely new problem. Shippers.

"Your friends will acknowledge you as a couple." I recited, under my breath, among the general clamour of our classmates. Zero must've heard, because he sighed in a long suffering way, once again denying that we were a couple. I tugged on his sleeve, and murmured, "Carrying is okay."

A split second later I was in his arms and we had burst through the crowd. He set my down once we'd reached the classroom, where I successfully prevented all murder attempts from the Hikari Protection Squad.

 _This is going to be a long day…_

* * *

Lunch took forever to arrive. The instant it did, I was hobbling out of the classroom, eager to buy some food and curl up in a secluded corner for some peace.

And just when I thought I might be able to catch a break, the universe replied 'haha yeah right, fuck you'.

There were a crowd of students in different classes twittering anxiously together. Fearing an attack, I approached cautiously, fingering the phone in my pocket, ready to dial the boys at a moment's notice. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Hikari. My uniform's been stolen."

"Mine too," the girl with pigtails added. "We know we left them in the locker room. We're searching for them now. Will you help us look?"

"Sure." I agreed, smiling uneasily. After shooting off a text to Zero explaining what was going on, I went on the hunt.

I didn't expect to stumble into a familiar face. Forte broke out into a relieved smile, gesturing wildly for me to follow him into the reference room he was peeking out of. Forte slumped against the now closed door, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

After a long moment, I spoke. "So, you do like to crossdress?"

"No!" He denied, loudly. "This is San's doing!"

I smiled, surrendering. "You two must have the stolen uniforms, then. There's been a mass hunt for them, you know."

"That's why I was hiding in here. San wanted to play, and she dragged me along, too. I'm stuck here till I find her, 'cause she's got my clothes, and I really don't want to get caught."

"Don't worry, I'm on it. Stay here, okay? I'll be back soon."

Grateful, Forte ducked behind one of the shelves as I left. Almost directly outside the door, I bumped into Zero, who went searching for San upon my request. I returned to the hideaway without suspicion, Forte looking relieved beyond words to see me again.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah. Did you find San?"

I shook my head. "No, I asked Zero to go look for her. I'm pretty much useless at the moment. He'll get her much faster than I would."

"If you say so…" He still seemed unsure.

"Here," I said, passing the clothes to him. "You should change into that, for now. It'll be too small for you, but it's better than staying it that uniform."

"Thank you!"

"I'll look the other way."

"Okay." His voice sounded far more jovial than before. I congratulated myself on my small victory.

"Hikari?"

At the sound of my name, my gaze snapped back to the boy. Forte had paused in the process of putting on the jumper, and only had his arms pulled through the fabric. His chest was still completely bare, not that he seemed too bothered about it. I blinked, then looked him firmly in the eyes, smiling brightly. "Yes, Forte?"

"Um… Can I ask you something?"

"You can ask me anything."

He was slightly perturbed by my limitless cheer. "You… sure?"

"One hundred percent." I assured. "Fire away!"

"Okay, well, it's just..." He seemed so terribly uncertain. "San and I… How do you feel about us?"

"Hmmm… Are you looking for anything specific?"

"N-no… Just in general…"

Thoughtfully, I tapped my finger against my chin. "Well, you're not trying to kill me anymore, so it's fun to hang out. Even if we have to stop San and Zero from making a mess of things. Ah, what else...? Oh, yeah! You're smart, and a good cook, too. You have to teach me some of your recipes someday!"

"I'd be happy to."

I rocked back on my heels with a happy hum. "Is that what you meant?"

Looking relieved, he nodded. "Yeah."

His fingers picked at the hem of the jumper. After a sizeable pause, I spoke once again. "Was that not everything you wanted?"

"Um…" His hands stilled. "So you don't… hate us or anything?"

"Why would I hate you?"

"Well, 'cuz we tried to kill you and everything... Multiple times."

"Oh, right. _That._ To be honest, I never outright hated either of you. You guys were just scary, yeah?"

His expression flickered with guilt, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah."

"I mean, I was kinda new to the whole magic-y thing, and just barely got over freaking out over Zura flying, the giant owl and everything, then all of a sudden I've got people itching for me to die. So… yeah, what I'm getting at is that it was all pretty scary."

"I get you. And we're really sorry about all that. We went way overboard."

"It's fine. It's all in the past, water over bridges and all. Anyway, you guys are my friends now."

"We are?"

I nodded, turning somewhat downcast. "Of course. You don't think the same?"

"I do." He corrected, hurriedly. "I guess it's weird. I've never really had many friends, and San… well, she didn't have anyone before me. S'why we stick together so much."

"Not anymore!" I replied, brightly. "You can add me to that list."

"Right." He was definitely becoming brighter.

"Hmm, Zero make act tough, but he definitely has a soft spot for San. And Ichii only pretends to be angry with you now, since you haven't tried to hurt me for ages. And Hiro likes anyone that I like, 'cause he trusts me to make good decisions. You can consider them friends as well! Now you have three more people you can rely on."

He smiled gingerly. "You're so nice. I can see why you're so well-liked."

"You're not too bad yourself."

"Thanks."

I stretched my arms up, feeling my back give a pleasant pop, when a sudden thought struck me. "Hey, one question from me."

"Yeah?"

"Why're you asking so suddenly, anyway?"

The same tightening of muscles around his mouth greeted me. "Uh… Just wondering, I guess?"

I frowned, planting my hands squarely on my hips. "Don't."

"Eh?" Confused, he perked up. "Don't what?"

"Don't lie to me." I clarified, disapprovingly. "I don't like it. You know, you're not very good at hiding things, Forte. Is there something you're not telling me?"

"'S nothing."

"You can trust me."

"I know-"

"Then why won't you say? Is it something bad?"

"No, it's just..." He exhaled, shoulders slumping in defeat. "It's about San."

My brows furrowed with concern. "San? Is something wrong with her? She's not sick, is she?"

He waved away my worries. "No, no, no. She's not hurt, or sick. She's fine, really. Completely fine."

"Then… what?"

"I dunno… I guess I expected her to be upset or something. We didn't pass the exam, after all, so it'd be justified."

"Oh, I see. She hasn't been, I take it?"

"Yeah. She's been scarily happy lately. It's kinda creeping me out, actually."

"Well, San's always happy. I'm used to it by now."

"True. Probably feeling a lot better now we don't have to fight for the Pearl."

"Seems like a lot of pressure. I'm surprised San was as cheerful as she was."

"She's always been like that. Likes to smile through her pain, even if I tell her it's alright to cry."

"San's strong like that." Studying the boy intently, I hummed a two note candace. "That's not it, is it?"

"Well… The exam's over."

"So...?"

"We're still here." He shrugged, then realised how that sounded and backpedaled. "I mean, don't get me wrong, it's not like I hate the place, but it's weird, you know? S'not like we have a reason to stay, yet here we are. Makes me wonder whether she wants to leave or not."

"Would it bother you if she stayed?"

My question seemed to pierce him. He took a long moment to debate this. "I don't know…" He started, tentatively. "I mean, it's cool here and all, and San's awesome, and I love her to bits, but I dunno."

"You two are really close, aren't you?"

"That's putting it lightly." Suddenly serious, he appraised me with deadly calm. "I'd die for her. Without hesitation."

"Living for her sake is just as good."

"Yeah, you're right." He sighed deeply. "Whatever she decides, I'll stick with her. I don't want her to be alone again. She deserves so much more than that."

"San is really lucky to have you, you know. You're a really good friend." He glowed from my praise. "Forte, have you even asked her about this?"

Sheepishly, he grinned. "Not really. I kinda got interrupted."

I rolled my eyes. "You're hopeless."

"You think I should? She wouldn't get mad, right?"

"You know her better than I do. If you really want an answer, your best bet is going to her directly."

"I get it. I'll try asking her again." He smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Hikari."

"It's no trouble. You should get changed though, you must be cold like tha-"

The next thing I knew was a rush of cold air. Then I was on the ground. Forte's arm slammed against the wall above my head. He was curled over me, like a shield. In the sudden commotion, I caught his breathless gasps, and the strong arm around my back that pulled me further into his protective embrace. Disorientated, the erratic rise and fall of his chest was all I could focus on.

For a moment, there was silence.

"F-Forte?"

Wincing, the blond boy straightened up somewhat to allow us room to breathe. His head was bowed remarkably close, arm still leaning against the wall for support.

From what little I could see, boxes now littered the floor, contents upturned haphazardly.

"Wha… What happened? Where'd all this stuff come from?"

"The shelves." He explained, eyes scanning them cautiously. "One of them was unsteady, it must've gave out just then."

"I... didn't even notice."

"It's high up, you wouldn't have seen it unless you were searching for it. Might've even been the weight of all this that brought it down, now that I think about it." Concerned, his fingers brushed against my cheek. "You've got a lota dust on you."

"So do you."

"Any injuries?"

I shook my head, relieved. "None. Not even a little bump, thanks to you." Now it was my turn to be worried. "What about you? I heard them all bouncing off your back, that must have hurt."

"Maybe a little," He allowed. "But it's just bruises, I'll survive-"

The door clicked open. "Hikari," Our heads snapped to the side. "I've brought San for you-" He stopped short, demeanour turning deadly.

Forte audibly gulped. I was close enough to see his adam's apple bob with the movement, and felt my own blood run cold. To the already paranoid Zero, how must this position look?

Burning heat seared across my skin.

Forte paled considerably.

"Get off her." He all but snarled. " _Now._ "

The blond boy jumped up so quickly, his head span. Still, that didn't stop him from extending a hand to help me up, too. Unfortunately for him, his act of chivalry wasn't taken all to kindly by Zero, and a wall of flames sprung up between us as the bluenette himself lifted me to my feet.

"Did he do anything weird to you?"

"What? No!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" Growing irritated by his behaviour, I pushed him away. Forte looked every bit a helpless puppy, under a furious barrage from both San and my would-be protector. "Don't you think you've got the wrong idea?"

"All I saw was that asshole pinning you down."

" _Don't call him that."_

Zero was losing his cool, that much was obvious. He was coated in a thin veil of fire, which flickered ominously as he raised his voice. "What, you expect me to be calm after that? He put his hands on you!"

"Stop it." I instructed, becoming more distressed by the second. "You shouldn't burst in and start making assumptions like that."

" _I'm not blind!_ That's what I _saw!"_

"Well you obviously saw wrong." I argued, hands on my hips.

His expression tightened, and I saw a brief flash of hurt. "Are you calling me a liar!?"

"Of course not!" I backpedaled quickly. "I'm saying you're being unfair!"

"How am I?"

Groaning, my hands fisted in my hair. "Listen to what I'm saying, will you? Forte wasn't trying to hurt me! You're angry at him for no reason!"

"Goddamn it, Hikari! Why are you still so naive? You're too easy, that's probably why he-"

"Shut up!" I yelled, stamping my foot. "Don't you dare patronize me like that, I'm not a child. I don't need your stupid lecture, and I sure as hell don't see why it's any of your business anyway!"

His jaw clenched tightly, the muscle taunt like a steel cable. "You're right. Do whatever you want, see if I care."

Regret stung my heart like a thousand needles.

My hand reached out to stop him from leaving-

The door slammed shut between us.

Throwing an apologetic glance over my shoulder towards the terrorized blond, I hurried after him as fast as my injured leg would take me. "Zero, wait! I didn't mean that." The bluenette refused to acknowledge my presence, continuing to march ahead, utterly livid. "Zero, please! Hold on a second."

 _If you get a chance to be alone with him…._

Red flashed across my vision, and I snatched his arm, forcefully making him face me. "Look, I'm so-" _Aggressively draw his attention._ "...rry. I- Um…" My ankle gave a terrible throb, and I grasped wildly at the boy to keep myself steady.

Despite his obvious foul mood, his strong hands still gripped my arms until I was balanced.

"T-Thank you…" Eyes blazing, he stepped away, crossing his arms heavily across his chest. "I'm sorry… I got annoyed… He, ah- F-Forte, he was protecting me. From the boxes. They fell. On… Me..." _And you might progress into a mature relationship._ "So yeah… Pleasedon'tbemadathim! He was just trying to help… But um… I gotta go, see you in class, sorry, bye!"

"Hikari…? "

I limped back to the classroom with rigid determination, flopping lifelessly into my chair once I'd arrived.

"Stupid Zero."

My stomach rumbled. Loudly and without any warning.

 _Damn… I missed lunch…_

"Stupid stupid stupid."

My forehead hit the table with a solid _thwack._ A beat, then I was clutching the area, struggling to keep my whine internal. Pouting, with one hand still cradling my head, I half-heartedly scanned through my notes, hoping to distract myself.

I blinked, the paper I had been pretending to read was swept to the side, having been replaced by a packet of melon bread. Stars in my eyes, I returned Ichii's smile, the brunette straddling the chair in front, arms loosely hanging over the back. "You want that?"

"I can have it? Really?" In any case, I was already eagerly unwrapping the treat.

"I bought too much because Pearl insisted he could eat it all."

"Hey!" The muffled voice of the little dragon emanated from Ichii's bag, where two narrowed coal orbs were focused intently on us. "Don't tattle on me!"

"You're a lifesaver, Ichii!" Positively glowing, I took a bite. "This is great, I'm really hungry."

Chin resting on his palm, Ichii's smile dimmed somewhat. "So…. Did the divination come true?"

I almost sprayed him with crumbs. The brunette watched on with concern until I'd finished almost choking to death on the melon bread. "Uh… Y-You mean the divination Pearl shared with me…?"

"Yeah."

 _Let's see… Most of it has… The Lucky item, being paired up with Zero, acknowledged as a couple, the whole fiasco with Forte- Oh, rats! He'll be mad if he finds out that Zero and I were fighting just now! Act smooth, Hikari._

"W-Why do you ask?" My laugh couldn't have sounded more forced if I'd tried.

 _What the Hell was that!? Oh Lord, just leave, you're so awkward._

He regarded me suspiciously for a moment, then presumably disregarded it in favour of answering my question. "Why...?" His echo was uncertain, so unlike his usually confident tone. "Well… It's been bothering me, that's why…"

Ichii, I knew, always tried to be the composed one. Both myself and Zero were emotional, I was too sensitive, Zero too brazen. He acted without thinking, mostly in defence of the weak, of me, of those he treasured beyond anything. I was normally too powerless, who stood at the sidelines and cried at the drop of a pin. Ichii was the brains, the mother, the worrier. He mentored us, watched us grow with pride, hiding his own pain and troubles, instead focusing all his attention on everyone but himself.

"No," Almost immediately, he was more relieved. "I don't think it has."

"Impossible!" Pearl denied, crawling into the open despite Ichii's protests. "My revelations can't be wrong!"

Gnawing on my bottom lip, I stood my ground. "It hasn't _all_ happened."

"No way, you're a liar!"

"No… It's true…"

"I hate you!" I flinched back, expecting a blast of flames. Instead, Pearl shot through an open window to my left, sniffling sadly.

Ichii failed to stop him, brows creased with concern.

My fists clenched, head lowering in shame.

 _I'm such an idiot…_

* * *

 **A/N: By now we've probably established my utter inability to stick to deadlines. RIP me, my soul and all the college work I put off to finish this god forsaken chapter. At least it's longer than usual? Though very conversation orientated. Oops. Screw proof reading because this has already taken waaaaay too long.**

 **Idk if it's boring or anything, ideas on improving/ pointing out any mistakes would be beyond helpful. As always, tell me what you think. I like hearing your opinions, it let's me know what you guys like to read.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **AkemiMimiA:** I'm glad you like her! It's always good to have a protagonist the readers will support.

 **James Birdsong:** It makes me happy to hear that!


	31. Finding Pearl

I slammed my head into the table. From beside me, Ichii watched on with polite concern. Two more solid thumps later, I was lying still, wondering just what it was about this class and all the crazy shenanigans we got caught up in that meant this kind of thing wasn't even questioned anymore. "I'm so _stupid._ "

Ichii was kneeling in the isle. Eyes of such an alluring brown suspended mere inches from my face, soft as fur. "If you're waiting for me to disagree, it's going to be a long day." I groaned again. Slender fingers graced my temple. "Does your head hurt?"

"A little." My finger pressed against his mouth, silencing him before he could even say a single word. "Don't you even start with the whole ' _you shouldn't have hit it then'_ talk. I know it was a bad idea."

He gave a little chuckle, gently brushing my hand away. "Well, feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to change anything."

"It makes me feel less guilty." I mumbled, sourly.

"Does it?" Of course Ichii would be the one to challenge my words. He could always see straight through everything. Curse him and his perceptiveness.

My breath was expelled in a long, heavy sigh. "No." Reluctant as I was to admit it, I wasn't afraid to look him straight in the eye. "I... I thought it would be okay. It was a little white lie, I didn't think it would hurt anyone… I just wanted you to not look so worried… and even then, I go and mess everything up."

He caught my face when I went to hit my head again, thumbs brushing against my cheekbones. "No more of that, you're hurt enough as it is."

My gaze strayed downwards, where my injured foot was resting awkwardly. "No kidding."

"Look, you're acting like you committed mass murder. It's not a big deal, really. It was barely even a lie, just a small bend of the truth."

"It still upset Pearl."

"Yeah," He agreed, lightly. "It did still hurt him. But you didn't intend it to, that's the main thing. And I appreciate that you tried to make me feel better, even if it didn't end up the way you wanted." I was still pouting like a child, sinking further into my folded arms. He squeezed my cheek between his thumb and forefinger, smiling warmly. "Cheer up. Pearl may be sensitive, but he's forgiving. And as much as he'd hate to admit it, he loves you to bits."

My traitorous lips started to twitch upwards. "He did threaten to burn people for me."

"That's right. He cares about you, so thinking you don't believe in his power must've hurt. But-" He quickly said, before I could go back to being self-deprecating. "We'll find him in no time, so you can apologise, and then this'll all be over. Okay?"

"Okay." A bit of a smile had returned.

To fill the silence, Ichii fired off a quick text the blue-haired boy.

Zero, who must have assumed there was some kind of emergency underway, arrived at a run, slamming the door back, looking paler than usual, and more dangerous than usual too. Narrowed eyes, sharp as flint, snapped to our position, and he was by my side in an instant, hand firmly clasping my shoulder, all hint of our earlier animosity gone.

"Uh… Zero?"

"What's happening?" He asked, frantically. "Are we under attack?"

"What?"

"Is it that bastard? Are they back?"

"What are you talking about?"

Zero blinked. His phone was shoved almost square in Ichii's face. "What do you think I'm talking about, idiot? _You_ were the one that texted _me_! ' _Come to the classroom ASAP'_."

"Oh." Ichii's confusion dissipated. " _Oh._ No, you can relax, there's no threat."

Zero's blazing eyes dulled to plain annoyance. "You mean I flat out sprinted halfway across this damn school for nothing?"

"Not nothing." The brunette assured, with alarming swiftness. "We need to go and find Pearl. He ran off. I'm worried he'll get into trouble."

There was a long moment in which he took this all in, before Zero slowly nodded. "Alright. Let's get moving. The longer his headstart, the less of a chance we have of finding him soon."

Despite Zero's dramatic entrance, hardly any heads turned our way as we exited the classroom. Our escape was mostly concealed by the general clamour inside the room.

 _Mostly,_ because one stubborn soul followed us out.

"Hey." Hiro was standing in the doorway, looking like he was in a competition to see who could dominate the most space. And he was winning. We all froze, wearing matching expressions of guilt, but he merely pushed my bag into my hands. "You forgot this."

I looked down at the bag, then back up at him, not quite comprehending this turn of events.

"Don't go through the front gate; I saw some teachers patrolling up near there. Apparently some weirdo's been loitering around or something?" All I could really do was gape uselessly at him. Hiro, undeterred, didn't even blink. "I'll cover for you guys, so don't worry about things back here."

By then, I'd finally regain the precious power of movement, and utilised this fully by pouncing a hug on him which nearly knocked us both to the ground. "You really are the best."

"I know." He agreed, without even a moment of hesitation, squeezing me back with just as much vigour. "You know, one day you owe me an explanation for all of this."

"And one day you'll get one." That was a promise. One I fully intended to keep. Even then, my arms tightened around his neck, regret twinging at my heart. "Just… not today."

"Not today." He echoed, with gentle understanding, finally releasing me. "You should hurry, before you get caught. One of you carry her until you're in the clear, her ankle'll only get more messed up trying to run." At this, he glared at Zero, lowering his voice to a venomous mutter. "Of course, if _someone_ hadn't have made her hurt it in the first place, this wouldn't be necessary."

"Hiro." I admonished. "He already feels like crap about it, so don't make it any worse, okay? You know it was an accident."

With a sulky roll of his eyes, Hiro dropped the attitude. " _Fine,_ I'll lay off. But only for you."

"Thank you~"

"Stay safe, you hear?" He affectionately ruffled my hair. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow."

Under Hiro's watchful gaze, Ichii lifted me onto his back, arms secured underneath me. "You good?" I nodded, and we were off.

It felt like something out of a spy movie.

Other students were wandering back to class, giving us strange looks as we passed. Somehow we managed to make it all the way to the sports areas without being spotted, where Zero clambered onto the wall and pulled me up and over. Safe, we settled down to decide a plan of action.

"I think we should split up." Ichii announced, fingers tip-tapping a restless rhythm against his thighs. "That way we can cover more ground."

"No way in Hell. Hikari's ankle is busted, and she's still got that freak after her. Leaving her on her own is practically asking for trouble."

Secretly, I couldn't help but agree with him.

"I'm not stupid, Zero." The older boy supported me around the waist as we made our way into a nearby alley, his head swivelling to assert that we were alone.

"Shows."

Ichii's minute glare silenced any more sarcastic commentary from the bluenette. "Bring out your most powerful flames."

The heat was too intense, appearing too quickly. Grimacing, I fell back into Ichii, skin tingling painfully. "Sorry!" Zero exclaimed, and they were gone a second later. Ichii carelessly waved his apology away, and moved me behind him a further few feet.

"Stay here, it's only going to get fiercer. Oh, and I'm going to borrow your necklace, kay?" His nimble fingers unclasped it from around my neck. The cat pendant winked from where it was collected in his palm. Appraising Zero once more, his eyes narrowed. "You're barely trying. Put some effort in."

Zero's gaze flickered hesitantly over to me. "Are you sure?"

Ichii erected two barriers. One to protect me, the other a tinted wall to block off the busy street we had just left. "Do it." He encouraged, bracing himself with steely determination.

What followed was both the most awe-inspiring and utterly terrifying sight I had seen to date.

In less than a second, Zero had become a raging inferno, his flames flecked with black soot, so powerful I could feel a semblance of heat even from behind the barrier. Ichii, his stance firm, suctioned Zero's magic towards my necklace, guiding the flames inside the material with expert precision. As quickly as the fire flared up, Zero extinguished them, and Ichii allowed his shields to drop.

They joined me, both grinning ear to ear with satisfaction.

"What... just happened?"

"I infused your necklace with Zero's magic." Ichii replied, casually dusting his hands off on his trousers.

"Oh." As you do. "Okay. Um… Why?"

Ichii swept my hair over my shoulder, clipping the chain back into place. "To protect you. It'll respond to danger, so you'll be safer when we're not around. In practise, it should hold enemies off until we get there. With flames as strong as those ones, we can detect it from a mile away, and be with you in no time. Happy now?"

He addressed the last part to Zero, who had his arms crossed over his chest. After scowling (Or thinking?) intently for a long moment, he nodded. "Do you have your lollipop on you? And the tactical pen?" I pulled them out as evidence. His gaze lingered on the bracelet he had given me, before he turned to Ichii and flashed him a thumbs up.

"Call one of us if it gets too hard to walk on your ankle."

"Will do." I promised, sincerely, watching as they dispersed, both throwing waves over their shoulders.

For a long time, I wandered around the shopping district, searching for the little dragon, and trying to stay inconspicuous. Walking around in a school uniform wasn't the best way to blend in, but it wasn't like I could go and change clothes. There was a moment where I almost found him, thanks to spotting an on-going news report about an _alien_ spotted nearby, but I arrived too late, and he'd already disappeared.

Locating a bench, I decided to take a breather, checking through my texts to see the places the boys had already searched.

As the day drew to a close, a cold chill was beginning to creep in-

For approximately half a second, because my necklace was now hot to touch, thrumming gently against my chest. I froze, glancing fearfully around. Pins and needles pricked all over my body, making me want to claw my own skin apart. There was an intense gaze pressing down on me, yet I couldn't disconcert where it was coming from. I felt utterly naked, and not in the fun way. Shuddering, I heeded the warning, snatching up my tactical pen and putting as much distance between myself and that area as I could, even with my busted ankle.

What seemed like an age dragged by, before Ichii was calling me.

" _Hey."_ He sounded tired. From all the running around he's been doing, I expected him to be.

"Hey."

" _Any luck?"_

"None." I despaired, with a little sigh. "You?"

" _Same, and Zero hasn't found him, either."_

"Did you see that news report earlier?"

" _Yeah. Almost gave me a heart attack. Thankfully he managed to escape."_ Ichii sighed, too. " _I'll let you know if I find anything, okay? Check back with me in half an hour."_

"Okay. Stay safe."

School had finished by now. I could see the uniforms of other academies flitting through the crowds.

 _School._

I stopped dead-

And almost immediately had someone slam into me from behind.

Take two; safely tucked out of the way, I fingered the bracelet Zero had presented me with, a gift from the Magical World. It seemed logical to me. Pearl could have returned to school. To where he thought we would be. It was a possibility that he had hidden himself away somewhere and was waiting for us to find him.

It seemed to take mere seconds for me to arrive, breathless, with my ankle throbbing painfully.

"Wow. This place is kinda creepy after hours."

It was all but deserted, looking very much like the conventional ghost town. Minus all the decrepit buildings.

The stairs, as always, were a bitch. It took all my power to prevent myself doing an impressive tumble down the main staircase. Of course, having a misunderstanding with a set of stairs isn't entirely out of character for me, but with the beating my body's already taken over these last couple of days, I figured I should cut myself some slack.

A muted, yet familiar sound emanating from a nearby room.

Head cocked, I approached cautiously.

 _Pearl?_

Hope sparking in my stomach, I threw the door open. Zero almost jumped out of his skin, scaling to the top of some cabinets in his surprise. It would've been hilarious if I hadn't been floored with shock, hands thrown over my mouth to smother my scream.

"You scared me!" I hissed, once I'd finally recovered the ability of speech, hand fisted over my heart.

" _I_ scared _you_?" He shot back, dropping down to the floor. After a second of wan glaring, we collapsed into giggles, and Zero carefully pulled me up to my feet. "Is your ankle okay?"

"Not really. I actually think I made it worse…. Uh… oops?" I added, lamely, in the wake of his disapproval.

"What am I going to do with you?" He wondered, with a teasing shake of his head.

"Are you going to kill me?"

"I'm plotting right now."

We paused. There was another noise that sounded remarkably like Pearl. "I thought I heard him!"

"Yeah… that's right. This bracelet, Zero, is it-"

"Infused with magic?" Recovering from my shock, I nodded. "It's a good luck charm. Gives you small bursts of luck."

"That explains it. I touched it, and suddenly had the idea to check here…"

Zero had been thinking intently the whole time. "Hey, Pearl! Come out, it's us!" Nothing. "Hm, we should start looking."

We needn't have done anything. Less than a second later, white powder spilled onto our heads, sending us into a flurry of coughing. Pearl emerged from where he had been dozing against the bag of lime, unwittingly pouring half the contents onto us while asleep.

I started giggling.

 _So this is what that divination meant by 'progressing into a mature relationship'._

Because, with the lime lining his face, Zero looked as though he were an elderly man. Having finished delivering a powerful noogie on the dragon, Zero scooped me up around the waist, heading upstairs. For a moment, I was confused. So too was Ichii, who had finally found us, likely by tracking down Zero's magic. Until, of course, I remembered what building we were in.

More specifically, what was on the roof of the building we were in.

Two seconds later, we were careering through the doors, and- _hoe don't do it-_ jumping straight into the pool. We resurfaced together, me squealing from the cold. Zero merely laughed, and like the little devil child he was, started splashing me with more water.

Well, two can play at that game. He soon learned that I will always be the victor of every and all splash wars when I dunked his head under the water in retaliation.

He managed to wriggle away a second or so later, water dribbling from his mouth. "Hey, no fair!" He complained, shaking his hair from his face. "I helped..."

"How did you _help?_ " I asked, giggling. From the poolside, Ichii's shoes and socks were off, his legs dangling into the water.

"You're... all cleaned up now, at least?"

"No," I returned, half serious, half playful. "I'm freezing. To Death. You may have just given me pneumonia."

I splashed him with a little more water, before allowing Ichii to lift me from the pool. Almost immediately, he switched my sopping wet shirt for his jacket, which, aside from being deliciously warm, was also far drier than I currently was.

I could only laugh when, after offering Zero his hand, Ichii was pulled bodily into the pool as well.

I wished we could stay like this forever, enjoying what little peace we had.

Unbeknownst to all of us, we were being watched.

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 **A/N: This chapter was really hard to write. I''ve had writer's block for weeks, trying to figure out what to do with it. In the end, I managed to get this out. It's much shorter than usual, but hopefully the next update will be better.**

 **Big thank you to Café Noir et Chats for the help and encouragement!**

 **Merry Christmas~**


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